Gl425 Globalization

Arien Memory

GL425

Major essay

        In reflecting on my time in having taken the two global courses offered at Wilmington College, I see the importance on learning about culture, other countries, and the impact that these cultures have had on other countries.         One noticeable theme that comes to mind is colonization. Whether it is colonization in South America or North America, the ramifications that the indigenous people endured in each setting is significant to history. In this course, we learned about the Inca. The struggle that the Inca experienced with the Spanish led to an elimination of a community and a culture that we still know very little about today. The treasures left behind from a group allow us to see inside this world. The Inca were early on engineers that were able to build great walls. An example is Machu Picchu. The ingenuity of these people, to build a work of art with very little resources, but their hands, strength and working together is quite remarkable. The Inca were intelligent people. They were able to perform cranial surgeries years before we knew how the mind and body worked. With very little training, they were forward thinking.

        Unfortunately, the Spanish did not see this as a benefit to them. They saw that they had riches and wanted to take over their fortune. Sadly, because the Inca were different by speaking a different language and believed in a different religion, the Spanish saw them as a threat and resorted to violence to convert a community to Christianity. In the long run, it was the Spanish who eliminated an entire culture through war and violence. The lack of exposure to different cultures was, in my opinion, a rationale that the Spanish viewed the Inca as a threat.

        I think anytime people are exposed to someone who is different than them, they immediately conclude that they will not get along. That sort of mindset does not always mean that differences can not be overcome. It’s through difference that people learn from each other and we learn the tools of bargaining. I think had the Spanish accepted the differences of the Icna, their worlds could have blended together. They both had things to offer each other. The Spanish could have taught them Christianity, not through force. The Inca could have taught the Spanish their engineering abilities.

        Indigenous people are the ones who suffer the most. In one of the movies we watched, “Machuca” the indigenous people were treated poorly. The bullying that occurred not only in the school, but as a community was sad. The article I read on the survey that was conducted about racism and stereotypes of the indigenous people describes the reality that these people are forced to live lives of poverty. They are not deemed worthy of an education. They are forced to live in slums and viewed as being dirty and unvalued in society. The environment that the indigenous people are forced to live in is very impoverished. There is no value to anything without an education. The mentality that these families are faced with each day, to overcome their social status is impossible. I can recall that in the movie “Machuca,” the drunk tells Machuca that he will always be stuck cleaning toilets while his middle- class friend goes onto running a company. He will be stuck for the rest of his life to live in his lower-class life. This struggle is a struggle that the indigenous people still face today. Society does not feel like they need to be giving a handout to the lower class to better themselves. However, education is a key to help overcome this situation. I have read and learned over the course of the global studies courses that education is a tool of empowerment to overcome some of the social environments that impoverished people experience.

        Poverty is a revolving theme throughout the global studies courses. I think that both education and poverty can go hand in hand. I think if people are given more resources, such as an education, they can overcome poverty to an extent. It will open a door for opportunity; opportunity that they might not have without an education. Unfortunately, many are not awarded an opportunity to seek out an education due to a lack of resources. For example, many South American countries have very little economic growth and stability. To be able to support and educate the impoverished is almost impossible as many of these countries do not have the resources to do so. This is an ongoing battle for the indigenous people. They do not have the financial means themselves to relocate to another country to seek out the opportunity to obtain an educate or work to be paid at a higher salary. It’s a cruel reality.

        Along with poverty and education, I learned about the social injustices rattled throughout the South American countries. It’s the lack of resources that these countries have that allow for corruption and upheaval to occur. I think trying to build their economy is a central theme all the South American countries have faced. However, the manipulation of the constitution is where the political leaders have gone wrong. The greed for money and power has led these countries to experience their own civil wars. The South American countries have many political parties that have influenced how the governments manage their countries. The influence of the military being a force to be reckoned with is also another factor that has led some of these countries to fall into a dictatorship. The constant change of leadership throughout the South American countries is an ongoing battle. The lack of stability of leadership is a driving force for the instability of the economic growth in South American countries. To offset such growth the South American companies, take over companies that have been ran internationally to allow the South American country to govern the way these companies function and takes their profits to feed back into their countries is one tactic government officials have put in place.