Unit 2--- GG&S

Recap- Guns Germs and Steel was mostly about "geographic luck"---it explains that global inequality is a direct result of geography. the first thing about geographic luck is "raw material". advantages of a country include their domesticated animals, which not all countries have enough of. Animals have always played a huge role in society,their usefulness ranging from exposing people to diseases (giving immunity), to food and milk, to muscle power, to fertilizer. it would put a country waaaay behind others if they didn't have animals for these things. Plant species are also extremely important. Back in the day, when countries were still in the early developing stages, what it came down to was that wheat could grow (with the flick of the wrist) in some places, and not in others. Shape of land also has alooooot to do with how countries in the world have turned out today. Geograpic luck would have it that your land was easy to travel across so ideas could be spread more easily. For example, the spanish had an advantage over the incas with their swords because they had copied them (the swords) from someone else. The spanish's "rapierre" was steel, while the Incas were still using bronze weapons. (They also didn't have horses, which further proves the point that domesticated animals played a large part in the development of inequality amongst countries.)

Revisit- Eritrea
The United Nations Development Programme's goal in Eritrea, Africa is to achieve food security and social equality for the people suffering the worst of poverty and violence right now. The European union is also trying to help, they're gonna be giving 122 million euro (european money) over a five year period (from now until 2013.) the money is specifically for Eritrean's most affected by poverty, it'll help by getting some food there and improving transport. US Agency for International Development/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (U.S.A.I.D./O.F.D.A.) helped with health, nutrition, humanatarian coordination and information management, water, sanitation, and hygiene in the country by donating about three million dollars to programs there. Italy was the first European country to invade Eritrea, under the "Rubattino Navigation Company" line. Eritrea has been through sooo much havock and chaos between now and then (like tyring to gain their independence from ethiopia) that I don't think it made toooo much of an impact until in 1935, they were part of the "Italian East Africa" colony at the time, and Italy was planning to invade ethiopia. When the Italians lost in WW2, it impacted eritrea bigtime. Etheopia was on the ally's side during the war so when it was over, the U.N. decided to let them (Etheopia) have some control over Eritrea, and since then it's been a sturggle for indepence, they're getting help though.

Reflect-I think geographic luck is terrible! I mean if it is what reeeeally causes global inequality, everything that contributes to the horribleness around us is just a plain old monstrosity! Quality of life here is so good, and those poor poor people that are starving and homeless and sick, it. is. not. right. it makes me soooo sad that the world we're in can't just come up with a solution to all that stuff, it's all obviosly very complicated, you can't just wish wars away, but problems with poverty? America is so in debt from DUMB things, that money could have been spent giving food and water and clothes and houses to people that need them but no, we're spending money on toys for christmas :( what lack of consciences we all must have!, sleeping in our beds at night when there's soo many people hurting out there, I really think if eeevery sinlge person just helped a little bitty bit it could do SO much for the people who need it. on top of that whole mess, it creates wars and stuff that just adds on to the pile of economic problems everyone's going through right now. it's a terrible mess/:

HOW CAN WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE BOTH OF THESE EXIST? :(