Chapter 3,4,5 and 6

I read an article online a few weeks ago explaining that women in the US would need a man with them when they wanted a credit card back in the 1970's.  I was shocked and thought  was surprised that wasn't that long ago.  Chapter 3 had a few instances I read where women were treated as less than. For example, they were not allowed to vote in Greek politics, Vietnam history blames female leadership despite the fact that they were able to hold of Chinese invasion for a few years, Tran Truc and her sister.  That story fascinated  me although they themselves might have been sexist (over 30 generals and they were all women).  It just makes me wonder who/what established women as the underdogs in the first place.  I never thought I would be a feminist per say but patriarchal cultures are starting to frustrate me more and more.

Chapter 4 was an excellent review of the world religions which I learned a lot from a few years ago when I took he class under Delaporte.  The Confucian Answer is really a wonderful way for politics and the people to get along or a boss to an employee, a father to a family, or an elected official to a patron.  I like that it holds everyone accountable.  Page 122 has a question from Strayer, "Why has Confucianism been defined as a 'humanistic philosophy' rather than a supernatural religion?  There seems to be no mention of deity and more of a guide on how to live your life and maintain a peaceful society. Furthermore, the Legalist way, in my opinion doesn't work. The US has more prison inmates than most the rest of the world.  Some are punished, shamed, further brutalized etc…but I don't think it helps.  I think our system is broken and it sounds like that was the way the Chinese society was prior to the introduction of Confucianism.

Chapter 5  discusses various world cultures and goes over class systems.  I was angry when I read on page 59 a priest had murdered a Sudra or untouchable and was hardly punished.  Ever since I learned about India's caste system, it upset me.  Honestly, what is the point of classes - distinguishing who's better, richer, more valuable? When I read about jati's and how one in India was supposed to interact only with their branch of caste, I thought, how much smaller can their world get?  I love living in America and our melting pot. 

Chapter 6 brings shows us what Africa and Mesoamerica were like during the times other societies (Persian, Roman, Greek, Chinese, India, etc…) were established. The Mayans have always been fascinating to me.  They were very sophisticated in communication, astrology, math.  They easily conquered other societies and were taking down not by another but a drought.  We see where Mother Earth factors into history here.  I know that if we didn't get a decent winter in California with lots of water, our state was in trouble (I work for a local water utility) and a lot of people called in scared. The Mayans seemed untouchable but we musn't underestimate Mother Earth.