Greek Philosophy

"Let him that would move the world first move himself." These words were wisely said by the Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. I agree with this quote, because for a person to make a difference to the world they must first be able to deal with their personal problems. If someone has something important on their mind, they will not be able to focus on changing the world.

Another great Greek philosopher was Plato. Plato wrote about the "Nature of Justice." Many thought that justice was what the strongest and richest people thought was wrong and whatever was in their best interest was right. Plato writes that this is wrong, because often the strongest and richest do not know was is in their best interest. Plato says that "justice is a good thing."

Plato's idea of a "Ideal Republic" is that the strongest, bravest, and most intelligent should rule over everyone else. Next, the somewhat strong, brave and intelligent should police and defend the people. The not strong, brave or intelligent people should be at the bottom and only do manual labor. In his ideal society, people could not move up in statues and were born into their positions. This is a bad idea in my opinion because the smartest, strongest, and most intelligent will not always have the smartest, strongest, and most intelligent children. Similarly, the people who were not strong, brave or intelligent will not always have not strong, brave or intelligent children. So the society will never progress, and eventually the bottom class will revolt.

My idea of a ideal republic is a place where the bottom class gets an equal say in the government as the elite. Every occupation will have a union, so that everyone will have someone there to make sure they are not getting taken advantage of by the higher classes. The government is balanced, and the citizens, no matter how poor or stupid gets a say in the government.

The Allegory of the Cave says that the only thing in our way of knowledge is that fact that we assume that everything me see is true. Our virtual world is much different than the intelligent world. If we did not see the things we did then we would have no way nor reason to believe that they are true. The only reason we know things are real is because we can experience them.

Sparta VS Athens

If I were a teenage girl of the citizen class during the time the Spartans and Athenians were the two largest city states in Greece, I would rather be a Spartan. First, Spartan girls received a public education from the state while the Athenian woman received no education and were kept at home. Also, Spartan woman had a role in sports and were kept in good shape so they could produce strong, healthy babies who would be ready to fight in battle. Spartan woman received more freedoms than the Athenian woman and the Spartans had an easier life.
If I were a slave living in Greece, I would much rather be a Athenian because their slaves were treated better. The Spartans were abusive to their slaves, most of which were Prisoners of War who had already lost their land, wives, children and dignity to the Spartans. The Athenian slaves were given more freedoms and not abused.
Although one would rather be a teenage girl in the Spartan city state, a teenage boy would rather be in the Athenian city state. The Spartan boys are taken away from their families at the age of 6 to live in the military. They lived with other boys and do not get to live with their family. They have to go through grueling army training, while the Athenian learned politics and had freedom to choose what they did with their lives. The Athenian men were not forced to go to the army and many Athenians became great political leaders instead.
If I were a young soldier I would rather be an Athenian because their time in the army was much shorter than the Spartans. The Spartan Military term is from the young age of 6 to the old age of 60. Spartan men lived in the army while the Athenians could go home, unless in battle. The Spartans had cruel work outs and many men died in training and did not even get to the battlefield.
If I were a rich member of the citizen class I would rather be an Athenian because the top class in the Athenian social pyramid is the wealthy land owners. The highest class in the Spartan social class was the professionals in the military. The Athenian elite did little to zero labor, but they were mostly bureaucrats and worked in politics.
Overall, it would be much easier to be an Athens instead of Sparta. The Spartans, similar to the modern day Israelis, force young boys to go to the army. The Athenians do not force boys to go to the army, and the Athenians have more freedom. The role of the father was non existent in the Spartan culture, while the Athenians believed that fathers and sons should become very close and bond in ways different than modern society. The Spartans had limited democracy, while the Athenians had a very strong political system. The people were richer in the Athenian society and they lived better, happier, safer lives than the Spartans.

Blog 4 times of stress

Many new political, economic and social ideas emerge during times of stress. This happens because the leaders during these times want to change the status quo, so they go to extremes to come up with new ideas. These new ideas will help them advance and fight through their problems. After September 11, 2001, the citizens of America came together to unite against terrorism. Even though it was a horrible time of social stress President Bush and his advisors had their highest rating of their 8 years in office. It proves that during bad times, people will look towards their lead for guidance and support. Similarly, after Hurricane Katrina, the rest of the country lent a helping hand to those who were affected. If everything was going well there would be no reason for change that is why it is critical to think of new, innovating ideas during a time of stress.

blog 3 population growth

Population growth was the most significant development of the classical period. The empires of the time could achieve many new benefits that they could not achieve with a smaller population. They had more complex society and more ideas spread throughout the world. People could grow more crops and use their live stock more efficiently. The people were more productive and could produce more food; since there were more people to eat the food it did not go to waste. The empires started to grow around large urban areas and large cities became vital parts of society. Since the population was growing, network exchanges (the ability to circulate ideas) became very important. Network exchanges became very useful so different parts of the world could communicate and they helped spread ideas and resources to different large empires of the time. Without the growth of population, none of this would be possible.

The Classic Period

The biggest change that occurred during the Classical Period was the formation of large regional civilizations in China, India, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. For example, the conquest by Alexander the Great and his Greek army started the creation of an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean Empire to Indian Empire. This new empire made contact with the Mediterranean and Indian civilizations, and as a result, trade increased. Through the exposure to new ideas about religion, political systems, and art, each civilization improved its ideas. Even though there were many difference between these classical civilizations, they each had similar beliefs about the status of men and woman, and the elderly and youth. Elders were treated with respect and were looked upon highly by the younger members of the community. Widows and mothers had a high status in the household, even though their sons were considered the head of the house. Elderly men were considered wise and looked to for advance, even though they were also thought of as greedy and needy the older they became. The early ideals were a setting stone for modern civilizations.

Response to Yali’s Question

I think that the White Europeans came to control the lands in Africa and the Americas because they had enough resources and desire to conquer the land and take control over the people. The Europeans had the ships and manpower to take over the less sophisticated cultures. The Europeans had just completed and were in the process of an industrial revolution, so they had recently obtained the technology needed to overthrow the ruling clans, tribes and nations. In addition, they had just encountered a wild spread disease that had killed approximately 25 percent of the population of Europe; therefore they wanted to find better life and live without the famine and illness that was well known to the Europeans. Furthermore, the people living in Africa and the Americas had no desire to conquer any more land or have any encounters with foreigners, especially foreigners who brought with them horrible germs that would eventually wipe out much of the native people. Many of the native culture had no problems and lived sufficient lives without the modern technologies of the Europeans.