Changes in the History of the World Since 1400 CE - Essay Example

?POLITICAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC & ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE WORLD SINCE 1400 CE Introduction The main events in history that I find to be very negative and detrimental are social exclusion which leads to oppression of the weaker people in society and the exploitation of the environment that is strongly linked with the degradation of the natural environment. These two issues I have identified are in line with the broad issues identified by Fernandez-Armesto who links these two evils in history to political, cultural and economic exploitation amongst people in their interaction with each other and the exploitation of the natural environment1. This paper examines social exclusion/oppression and environmental degradation under a number of headings which include Social, Economic, Cultural and Political. It critically evaluates the causes of these issues and problems in history and then links them to the two major evils that have been identified in history. Social Exclusion Social exclusion has been a major part of the interaction between people of different social and racial backgrounds. Around the 15th Century, Europeans by far, had the best technology and military mights amongst humans. They set out to discover other lands, however, this process came with a lot of social exclusion which saw the exploitation and oppression of people from other racial origins in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Europeans began a system of internal colonization in Asia2. This was done by establishing trade posts in the various ports in modern Indonesia, China, Japan, the Arabian Peninsular and India. The Europeans used their presence in these ports and posts to exploit Asian labor which was used to produce goods and products that were bought at very cheap prices at those ports and sold at very high prices in Europe. They also sold manufactured goods at very high prices to the locals and made high profits. The locals in Asia and other parts of the world were excluded from the luxurious lives led in the colonial circles which was restricted only to Europeans, most of whom were Whites. The darker skinned Asians were seen as inferior and only allowed to do menial jobs that led to higher returns for the Europeans. In Africa, this social exclusion was much worse. Aside the colonization of the various parts of the continents, there was the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Spaniards started to buy Black African slaves as early as 1510 and this began the trend of slavery which saw millions of Black Africans being sent across the Atlantic to work perpetually for the benefit of European farm owners3. These slaves were not given anything more than what they needed to survive and were made to work from morning to evening all the days of their lives till they dropped dead for no rewards. They were effectively excluded from the many luxuries that reverted to their European masters. Economic Exploitation Economic exploitation affected people who were less privileged as well as the natural environment. The clash of European civilization and the other civilizations around the world led to so many forms of economic exploitations. Of course the exploitation of people in the Southern continents by Europeans brought in a lot of economic benefits to Europe. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the colonization of peoples in Africa and Asia gave the European nations access to wealth without a requirement of accountability in these lands. They only exploited and made massive wealth in these nations. After colonization was abolished, the Europeans living in the Americas, Australia, and South Africa continued to hold on to the wealth of the masses and this is a form of social oppression and exploitation. Even in other parts of the world where people of the same race and color live together, there are many places where the few rich people hold and control much wealth. It is common to find nations in Africa and Asia where leaders and a few elite, control up to 90% of the wealth of the land. This forms some kind of economic exploitation which is tantamount to oppression. Also, as people and communities continued to grow and develop around the world, there was the need for the exploitation of natural resources. As human populations rise, there is an immense pressure for people to rely on the natural environment for sustenance. The industrial revolution came in and required people to use more energy for production and transportation. This led to the degradation of the natural environment. Trees have been cut down in large numbers to ensure that the survival of individual needs are met4. The coming of coal acted as a substitute for the large scale destruction of forests5. This was also substituted with fossil fuel which prevented the extinction of whales, whose oils were used prior to that. “...oil thus helped save the whales just as coal had for centuries helped save the remaining forests”6 However, in lieu of the use of these substitutes, another problem to the natural environment has been the emission of high volumes of carbon dioxide into the environment causing global warming. This has led to a spate of climate change which has been a major cause of concern since the industrial revolution started in the 18th Century. In spite of this, the reliance on fossil fuel and recently, nuclear energy continues to grow with the growth in demand for goods and services. Nations cannot do much about it because it seems to be the only option for economic development. The intervention of the global consensus like the Kyoto Protocol seems to show some hope in modern society7. However, it is ironic to note that the effects of global warming is being felt by the nations with the lowest emissions and they are the strong adherents to the Kyoto protocol. The larger polluters like China and USA are not doing much to cut down emissions. They are the nations that benefit the best from the production and usage of fossil fuels and coal. Political Exploitations It has been pointed out earlier that the early European powers established colonial outposts in Asia, Africa, the Americas and all over what is known as the developing world to-day. These outposts became the foundation of nations today and every element of political exploitation which is linked to the socio-economic oppression of the weak and poor can be traced to these colonial institutions. Colonization was based on the fact that European and other more powerful nations, used their military might to suppress weaker nations and peoples. This was done with the divide-and-rule strategy, where the Europeans formed alliances with some groups of people against another group to ensure that they always had control in the nations they ruled. This issue is strongly demonstrated by Leon-Portilla (1992). He states that the Aztecs in Mexico, like all other people in warmer climates had built up a native civilization which had strong religious, social, economic and political structures8. These were legitimate systems that allowed them to have a normal life and normal socio-cultural systems that allowed a political system to flourish in that part of the world for generations. However, the Spaniards in 1511 had a strong conviction that the Aztecs were Barbarians and sought to seize their wealth and convert them to Christianity9. This ideology led the Spaniards to begin a conquest that destroyed the socio-political structures of the Aztec people and brought about a strong European government. This became the model for the establishment of European political systems all over the world. Leon-Portilla (1992) notes that the Spanish military contingent sent to conquer the Aztecs included 600 Spaniards and a number of native allies that they had gathered. This drives home the fact that European powers had to draw on the enmity of local people to ensure that they could rule in foreign lands. They had to use the enemies of the Aztecs as a tool to fight, defeat and even rule them. This is quite common in the history of tribes and communities in Asia, Africa and the Americas. European powers relied on alliances with one tribe to begin war and hostility against another. This divide-and-rule tactic was used all over and it bred hatred amongst people even after the independence of these nations. The trend of colonization and political rule of nations around the world was strongly questioned by the power of Japan against European nations and the fact that many colonized peoples got a feel of military might and governance during the 2nd World War10. This led to a trend where the colonized in Africa and Asia and the suppressed in USA and South Africa sought independence and equal rights respectively. This went well in some part of the world as people rose up in social and military struggles that led to some level of equality and self-governance. The World War seemed to have been replaced by the Cold War which was an ideological war between the capitalist North America and imperialist Western Europe on one side and the communist Soviet Union and China on the other side11. The trend of independence was followed by a period of wars fueled by rifts that mirrored the conflict between the East and West in the Cold war. Logically, one can say that the colonialists handed over power to their allies who they had historically used as tools to rule in Asia, Latin America and Africa. However, the oppressed and the enemies of these people saw some hope in getting some equality and justice by aligning themselves to the East. This led to the massive supply of arms around these three continents and led to wars in Korea, Vietnam, DR Congo, Columbia and many other parts of the world which was absolutely unfair to the average people who were not connected to any of these conflicts like women and children. Cultural Conflicts There have been some cultural matters that have influenced the oppression of some people from certain parts of the society who hold on to some views that are not in line with the mainstream thinking. From the background to the revolution and Red Guard era of China, you notice that China was ruled by a monarchy that was not very effective and was replaced by democrats who led the country into a period of corruption and foreign domination which caused the poor in the society to face very harsh conditions12. This led to the Chinese revolution led by the famous Mao. The book, Red Scarf Girl brings to bear the way the Nationalist party after the revolution instituted a strong system of determining what is right and what is wrong and then getting the Red Guard to ensure that the ideals of the Communist Part was upheld by all and sundry. Ji-Li was a bright girl that everyone thought, should grow up to belong to the Communist party and help develop the nation. However, as she grew up and began go question the Nationalist party's attitude towards defining the culture, she became an enemy of the state. This account gives a revelation of what is going on in many nations that do not uphold human rights and freedoms. This is a form of social oppression that is packaged in a very subtle cultural system that every one must follow. The Hama Massacre of 1982 also gives another description of the role of culture and sectarianism in the violation of human rights. Hama was seen as a stronghold of the Sunni-led Muslim Brotherhood which opposed the rule of President Assad of Syria. This led to the Syrian army massacre of as many as 120,000 people, some of whom were innocent women and children. Hureau points out that the the massacre was as a result of the “...combination of three different political traditions all operating at the same time in the Middle East”13. This therefore indicates that the clash of different political ideologies, which in this case were Sunni, Shiite and Secular led to the killing of people, some of whom were innocent. This therefore shows that struggles between various political views and ideals can lead to undesirable ends for people, some of whom might have nothing to do with the matter at hand. Conclusion The issue of social exclusion and oppression as well as environmental degradation can be traced to the social exclusion that came with the earlier interaction between Europeans and people of other races. This led to economic exploitation and the suppression of people of other races and origins to the advantage of Europeans economically. The expansion of economies in nations comes with the need for the exploitation of natural resources and key amongst them is the burning of fuels that emit carbons that lead to global warming and climate change. This needs to be balanced in order to ensure sustainable development. Also, political differences from colonial days through to the era of the World Wars and Cold War have come with so much social oppression and inequality that has caused problems for people. There is also the issue of cultural differences that leads to conflicts and infringements on human rights. Read More