...Name: __________________________ World History Unit Two: Global Inequality [pic] An Overview of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel Why do some nations have so much material wealth while so many others have so little? This was the question Jared Diamond posed in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel. After identifying a point in time when all societies were roughly equal (over 13,000 years ago), Diamond identified the key variables that allowed some societies to develop highly complex, material-rich societies, while others developed at much slower rates. Guns, Germs, and Steel uncovers how Europeans came to dominate every other group on the planet by virtue of their access to what Diamond terms the “Agents of Conquest”: Guns, Germs, and Steel. Jared Diamond’s journey of discovery began on the island of Papua, New Guinea. There, in 1974, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo (material goods), but we black people had little cargo (material goods) of our own?" Diamond realized that Yali's question penetrated the heart of a great mystery of human history -- the roots of global inequality. Why were Europeans the ones with all the cargo? Why had they taken over so much of the world, instead of the native people of New Guinea? How did Europeans end up with what Diamond terms the Agents of Conquest: Guns, Germs and Steel...
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...Scientist Jared Diamond has worked for years trying to find an answer to a question, asked to him by a New Guinean, “Why do you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?” Why did the Europeans succeeded so much more than the New Guineans? How did the Europeans have such a head start? Was it religion, trade, or another unknown aspect? Jared Diamond argues that geographic and environmental luck have been the most important factors allowing the Eurasian societies to dominate the rest of the world. Jared Diamond’s argument, geography was the reason civilizations advanced, is correct. For two reasons, the East to West axis spread, and the fact that the Europeans had better plants that were easy to farm and spread. The first reason geography was an important aspect to civilization is the East to West axis spread. First, according to document B, the East to West spread allowed Europeans to spread ideas, animals, plants, religion, language, and more throughout Europe. A main reason this spread was easy is because the continents of Europe and Asia have a large latitude,giving many places the same length of day, soil, and temperature, making it easy to travel and easy to plant the same plants successfully and domesticate the same animals. This spread also led to interconnection which gave Eurasia most of its power. According to document I, the East to West led to domesticated animals, plants, food storage, successful...
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...choose to fail or survive. The main characters are historical people and unknown kings of Mayan cities or Easter Island villages. Jared Diamond tells the story of the Viking explorer Erik the Red, who discovered Greeland and Vinland (Terranova, in Canada). Another character is captain Olafsson, a norse sailor who wrote the last news about Greenland in 1410. Another main character is Christopher Columbus, who arrived at Hispaniola in 1492, but now this island is two countries, the Dominican Republic and the Haiti. Diamond studied the politics of two presidents. the dominican Rafael Trujillo, who protected the enviroment and the dictator François, Papa Doc, Duvalier, who decided on politics of deforestatation of his country, Haiti. The author considered the bad politics of another main character, king George II, who was interested in sending merinosheeps from Spain to Australia, an idea which was succesful from 1820 to 1950 but then the farmers understood their lands lost fertility. Another main character is Tokuwaga Jeayasu, a shogun of Japan in 1600, who prohibited Christianity in 1600 and protected his country againt deforestation. The book takes us to a lot of places around the globe: Mayan cities, Rwanda, Viking colonies of Vinland or Greenland, Haiti and Dominican Republic, Easter Island and Polynesian colonies in Pacific, and the Chaco villages in New Mexico (United States). The time period was from 800 AC, when collapsed Mayan cities to 2005. Other locations are the Viking...
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...Titles: Episode 1: Out of Eden Our thesis is based on Jared Diamond’s book ‘Guns, germs and steel’. Modern history is a product of conquests of European “explorers” and the Conquistadors, who led the way. The local population was utterly decimated by the few who came to the New World. With the aid of Guns, germs and steel, they were successful in taking over those lands. Ever since, people of European origin have dominated the globe, with the same combination of military power, lethal microbes and advanced technology. But how did they develop these advantages in the first place? Why did the world ever become so unequal? How have guns, germs and steel shaped the history of the world? There have been people living in the rainforests of New Guinea for at least 40,000 years – long before the settlements of North and South America were formed. But one of the few places on earth where it’s still possible to find people hunting and gathering is the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. They are among the most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world. So why is it that they are being ravaged by rampant poverty while their European and American counterparts sit in bungalows and have their lavish their meals? Advanced technology, large populations, and a well-organized workforce have been common characteristics of majority civilizations. To understand the pace of the progress of each civilization in the course of history, we must need to dwell deep into the roots of the...
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...The Diamond of Sustainable Growth A Historical Framework for the study of political economy and economic development George David Smith, Richard Sylla, Robert E. Wright( NYU Stern School of Business For most of its existence, humanity neither enjoyed nor understood economic growth, or society’s capacity for creating wealth. Prior to the 18th century, the aggregate incomes of particular societies may have increased a little for short periods in a few places, but most of the time incomes hovered not far above the subsistence level. Powerful leaders and ruling classes could accumulate vast wealth, but this was normally achieved through the redistribution of incomes from the weak to the powerful, and certainly not through the creation of wealth as we know it today. Going back centuries, to paraphrase the 17th-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, human life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Peace and good weather were more likely to summon forth children more than prosperity. Whenever war, pestilence, and drought returned -- and they always did -- people died in droves. To many observers, humanity appeared doomed to spend eternity wet, cold, hungry, and grief-stricken. In the late 18th century, the English proto-economist Thomas Robert Malthus warned that the mass of humanity, quite aside from the foregoing perils, was doomed to a life at the margins of starvation, as surges of population growth would inevitably outstrip the finite sources...
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...co1 Introduction: The Sixteen-Page Economic History of the World He may therefore be justly numbered among the benefactors of mankind, who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be easily impressed on the memory, and taught by frequent recollection to recur habitually to the mind. —Samuel Johnson, Rambler No. 175 (November 19, 1751) The basic outline of world economic history is surprisingly simple. Indeed it can be summarized in one diagram: figure 1.1. Before 1800 income per person—the food, clothing, heat, light, and housing available per head—varied across societies and epochs. But there was no upward trend. A simple but powerful mechanism explained in this book, the Malthusian Trap, ensured that short term gains in income through technological advances were inevitably lost through population growth. Thus the average person in the world of 1800 was no better off than the average person of 100,000 BC. Indeed in 1800 the bulk of the world population was poorer than their remote ancestors. The lucky denizens of wealthy societies such as eighteenth-century England or the Netherlands managed a material lifestyle equivalent to that of the Stone Age. But the vast swath of humanity in East and South Asia, particularly in China and Japan, eked out a living under conditions probably significantly poorer than those of cavemen. The quality of life also failed to improve on any other observable dimension. Life expectancy was no higher in 1800 than for hunter-gatherers:...
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...I’ve learned more through the class of “Black World Studies” taught by Professor Coates. Coates gave me the intelligent insight on how Africans-Americans were able to succeed through the tough times of learning even when they could die from learning how to read. It was a sacrifice the slaves had to do that the time. When I read more articles and watched more movies, it showed determination, courage, heart, and attitude. When reading, it switched to a period of slavery to a period of the Civil War. After that I came to an author named Jared Diamond that gave his view on the world of slavery. In the article “How Africa Became Black” by Jared Diamond he argues that diversity resulted from the geography of Africa. Africa is home to five major human groups, blacks, whites, African Pygmies, Khoisan, and Asians. Thirty percent of the world’s language is in Africa. But as the years goes on were losing about 2 per week. Soon as the world gets older there wouldn’t be any languages in Africa. As race continues to grow in Africa there will be different types of languages being made and the previous groups (ethnic groups of language) wouldn’t exist anymore. As said in paragraph 8 of “How Africa Became Black” races are stereotyping, from Black to White, to putting the Zulu, Masai, and Ibo into a black category and Africa's Egyptians and Berbers with each other and with Europe's Swedes with the whites. The question that pertains to this is why are people being judgmental of other races and...
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...he means is that the sole purpose of a gene is to make copies of itself using the Darwinian selection process; very selfishly ignoring the consequences this pursuit may have on other living entities. Self-interest is a requirement for survival. This does not mean, of course, that animals and humans cannot be altruistic sometimes, in certain activities.2 It does mean that no living entity can survive for long if it is only purely altruistic. On the other hand, survival is not necessarily jeopardized when an organism is purely self-interested. Altruism, in the absence of self-interest, is not evolutionarily stable in the biological world; it leads to extinction. It is for this reason that all extant life forms must be selfish. Humans, like all creatures, are self-interested; not because it is good to be selfish but because we would not be here if we were not.3 SURVIVAL Self-interest is a powerful motivation because the basic concern for biological survival is the insufficiency of the resources that are required to maintain life. Organisms cannot survive when they cannot get enough air, water or food, or do not have adequate information and/or competence to discover and utilize the resources that are available in their environment....
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...Guns, Germs and Steel Page 1 GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL: The Fates of Human Societies By Jared Diamond, 1997 About the Author: Jared Diamond is a professor of physiology at UCLA School of Medicine. He is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and was awarded a 1999 National Medal of Science. He is also the author of The Third Chimpanzee. SUMMARY The book asks and attempts to answer the question, once humankind spread throughout the world, why did different populations in different locations have such different histories? The modern world has been shaped by conquest, epidemics, and genocide, the ingredients of which arose first in Eurasia. The book’s premise is that those ingredients required the development of agriculture. Agriculture also arose first in Eurasia, not because Eurasians were superior in any way to people of other continents, but because of a unique combination of naturally occurring advantages, including more and more suitable wild crops and animals to domesticate, a larger land mass with fewer barriers to the spread of people, crops, and technology, and an east-west axis which meant that climate was similar across the region. The book is well written and contains not only information about the history of cultures around the world, but excellent descriptions of the scientific methodologies used to study them, from how archeologists study the origin of agriculture to how writing evolved to how linguistics can trace the movements of peoples across huge geographic...
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...Volume 10 Number 6 June 4, 2007 Black Intellectual Genocide: An Essay Review of IQ and the Wealth of Nations Girma Berhanu Göteborg University Sweden Lynn, Richard & Vanhanen, Tatu. (2002). IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Westport, CT: Praeger. Citation: Berhanu, Girma. (2007). Black intellectual genocide: An essay review of IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Education Review, 10(6). Retrieved [date] from http://edrev.asu.edu/essays/v10n6index.html. Abstract I review the book IQ and the Wealth of Nations, written by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. I critique the authors’ major assertion that a significant part of the gap between rich and poor countries is due to differences in national intelligence. The authors claim that they have evidence that differences in national IQ account for substantial variation in per capita income and growth of a nation. This essay review debunks their assumptions that intellectual and income differences between nations stem from genetic differences. This critique provides an extended review of the research literature that argues against these assumptions and presents a different picture from that presented by Lynn and Vanhanen about the concept of intelligence, what IQ measures and does not measure. The essay exposes the racist, sexist, and antihuman nature of the research tradition in which the authors anchored their studies and the deep methodological flaws and theoretical assumptions that appear in their book. The low standards of scholarship...
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..."Why is Sex Fun? is the best book on the subject I've read. This lively exploration of our sexual heritage offers fascinating reading for anyone curious about why lovers do what they do." -Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses "I am so jealous of Jared Diamond, for he writes with such an elegant simplicity! Here, he takes a loot at the endlessly fascinating topic of human sexuality His convincing arguments should persuade xm that there are very special reasons why we evolved to use sex for recreation as well as for procreatim whereas most other mammals are denied that pleasure.... It is a great little book, by one of the worlds foremost biological philosophers." -ROGER Shohl Professor of Physiology Monash University Australia "Once again Jared Diamond provides us with answers to questions we may never have stopped to ask, but wish we had. In this long essay Diamond explains that recreational sex, while not unique to humans, is a rare behavior in the animal world. Above all, we learn, sexual activity divorced fron procreation is not only part of what it is to be human, but the very crux of our evolutionary success." -Bettyaxn Kevles. author of Naked to the Bonn Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Centnty The Science Masters Series is a global publishing vonture consisting of original science books written by leading scientists and published by a worldwide team of twenty-six publishers assembled by John Brockman. The series was conceived by Anthony Cheetham of Orion...
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...[pic] MONEY Income – доход Earned income – заработок Unearned income – рента, нетрудовые доходы Private income – частные доходы To live on one’s income – жить на свои средства To live within/ up to one’s income – жить по средствам Exceed/ live beyond one’s income - жить по средствам Income tax – подоходный налог Salary – оклад, зарплата To gross (coll) – we grossed 1,000$ - мы получили общую прибыль в … Payment – оплата, платеж, уплата Overtime payment – плата за сверхурочную работу He made a cash payment of 50$ - он уплатил наличными 50$ Pay – плата, зарплата, жалование; платить A pay cut – снижение зарплаты A pay increase – повышение зарплаты On half pay – на полставки They are paid by the hour - они получают почасовую оплату He paid his way through college – он сам зарабатывал себе на обучение To pay off one’s debts – рассчитываться с долгами Pay-day – день зарплаты Bonus – премия, премиальные A bonus job – работа с премиальным вознаграждением Royalties – авторский гонорар, отчисления автору пьесы Wages – заработная плата He gets good wages - он хорошо зарабатывает A living wages – прожиточный минимум Tips – деньги на «чай» Commission – комиссионные Basic earnings – основной доход, заработок Extras – дополнительный доход College grant - стипендия Scholarship - стипендия Child benefit – детское пособие Maternity benefit – пособие по беременности и родам Pension - пенсия Dole money...
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...Sundaram Electrolux India Makes life a little easier Energizer Keep going ESSAR Steel 24 carat steel Fed-Ex The World On Time Ford Mondeo Redefined Aggression Ford Motors Built for the road ahead Godrej locks PEACE OF MIND.GUARANTEED Graviera Suitings THE MAN OF SUBSTANCE Gucci Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten Haier Inspired living Harley-Davidson If you don't have to answer to anyone, what would you do Harrod's retailer, ENTER A DIFFERENT London WORLD Hero Honda CBZ Motorcycling Unplugged Hero Honda Born in a studio, not in a Passion factory Hindustan Times Let there be light Hitachi Inspire the Next Honda The power of dreams Honda DIO FROM INDIA TO THE WORLD.AND TO YOU HSBC World's local bank Hughes Software Think skywards HYUNDAI Play a bigger game ELANTRA Hyundai's new ad Drive your way Jobsahead.com FILL IN YOUR AMBITION Johnnie Walker Keep Walking whiskey Kingfisher airlines Fly the good times Kodak You press the button and we do the rest Lacoste Because what you are LG EXPAND YOUR LIFE LG AC BREATHE HEALTHY Lufthansa There is no better way to 1 Created By: S.Sriram MBA-HR, TAMILNADU srirams@gmx.com Company Accenture Air Deccan Air India Air Sahara Airtel AKAI Allen Solly Allianz Insurance Apple Computers Bajaj Auto Bajaj Pulsar Bajaj spirit Blue Star BluestarAC Bournvita Brooke Bond BSNL BUSINESS STANDARD BUSINESSWORL Magazine of the new D economy CA THE SOFTWARE THAT MANAGES e-BUSINESS Cholamandalam ENTER A BETTER LIFE Insurance Citibank The city...
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...COLLAPSE HOW S O C I E T I E S CHOOSE TO FAIL OR S U C C E E D JARED DIAMOND VIK ING VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), Cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England First published in 2005 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 13579 10 8642 Copyright © Jared Diamond, 2005 All rights reserved Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed/Jared Diamond. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-670-03337-5 1. Social history—Case studies. 2. Social change—Case studies. 3. Environmental policy— Case studies. I. Title. HN13. D5 2005 304.2'8—dc22...
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