Athenian Opinion of Today's Government

An ancient Athenian would probably find many flaws with our system of governing, but would be overall glad and proud that democracy has survived and flourished at all. The Athenians believed strongly in their democracy, and fought hard to protect it, and they would be happy to know that others continued in that tradition. However, I think they would also be appalled at how little the average individual can participate in government. In Athens, virtually every citizen had a role in the government; we don't. They would also be shocked to know that people make a career out of politics; in Athens no one served for very long at all.

Mayan Values in a Modern Society

The Maya had many values which we still see in our society today. Religion was very important to them, so important that they would sacrifice themselves for it. There are those today who feel the same way, as we see from reports on suicide bombers, and other such people. A much more common shared value is that of a standard of beauty. The Mayans went to such measures as to physically alter babies in order to make them "beautiful," and to that same extreme measure we have plastic surgery. Yet even on an everyday basis we have pressure to look a certain way. We are constantly bombarded by media that tells us to loose weight, and our movie stars all are what our culture proclaims to be beautiful. Also, sports, particularly the ball game, were very important to the Maya. They used it in their religion, and our culture has almost a religious passion for sports. To say the least, they are at least very important to us, as evidenced by the fact that we pay people millions of dollars a year to play them for us.

Daoism vs. Legalism

Daoism and Legalism were two utterly dichotomous ancient Chinese philosophies. Daoism preaches passivity and simplicity-"Therefore the sage avoids excess, extravagance and arrogance." "Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail."-while Legalism teaches severity and violence-"...they would not dare to violate the law and offend the officer." "When it mobilizes it's army and attacks, it gains victory; when it holds the army in reserve, and does not attack, it will be rich." Daoism is all about doing as little as possible, while Legalism encourages the physical tasks of agriculture and war-"...take to agriculture." Legalism teaches strong, harsh rule, while Daoism teaches almost none at all-"...it is best for a ruler to be sparing."

What is the most effective way for a ruler to maintain order?

A good leader must both be just and merciful, as to maintain order, but to be fair and kind in doing so. A tyrant, with unfair laws or customs, will eventually be rebelled against, or loose grip over his or her realm, such as Caesar, who in fact died for his dictatorship. On the other hand, if a leader does not uphold the laws, or does just what people want as apposed to what they need, chaos would ensue, with people breaking laws because they need not fear the consequences. A good leader has to be able to make his or her own decisions while taking into account the needs and desires of his or her people. He or she must be honest and fair, and must have the support of his or her people, because a leader can't do anything without a following. A good leader must appeal to the good side of human nature, and channel the bad into productive practices. A good leader must be just, and always fair, as well as being an inspiration to his or her people.

Jared Diamond's Thesis

I agree with Jared Diamond's thesis that geography is key to development because it makes sense, and he has strong historical detail to back it up with. Everything we know from that long ago is merely a bunch of educated guesses based on what little evidence we have. That is not to say that they aren't true, merely that we cannot know for sure, and so we must make the best guesses we can. Diamond makes many guesses, but they make sense, and the conclusion he gets out of them (that geography is the deciding factor) is the logical conclusion. It seems to me that, knowing all we know now, Diamond's conclusion is accurate, or at least as accurate as we can get.

1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Farming

Farming, like all things, has it's disadvantages, but is quintessential to our very existence as a civilization. Hunting and gathering limits growth. It is impossible to have a functioning community full of culture and technology and new ideas when ones biggest concern is if and when ones next meal will be. Also, physically, there just wouldn't be enough food to expand population and boarders. Another huge advantage of farming is that one can grow as much food as one likes, as well as store food. In the winter time, when hunting and gathering is made very difficult, if not impossible, a community can simply eat the excess food they stored, while a hunter-gatherer may not have any. Also, if a hunter-gatherer ever tried to increase their bounty in order to ensure they had enough to eat, by taking more then nature has to give, they could eventually exhaust their supply of food. Farming, however, only involves taking food that one grows oneself, and therefore does not directly impact nature, as hunting and gathering does.