Blog Post # 6: China, you say you want a revolution?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1981566,00.html

            Austin Ramzy paints a picture of what the Chinese citizens are going through in their internet escapades. The “big brother” style government is cracking down on anything that could potentially, maybe, or just might make them look bad. A tactic such as this would make sense except for the fact that humans are wired to go against anything or anybody who limits their freedoms in any way. Mr. Ramzy brought up Han Han and Jason Ng to solidify this very point. Both men are similar in their views about the censorship, but, like most Chinese people, both men take one of two sides on the issue. Han Han pokes fun at and comments about the issue hoping it will go away (most Chinese are probably here as well) while Jason Ng is actively trying to get around and suppress the authoritarian system. Eventually the Great Firewall of China will be torn down by its people. I can only hope that when the Great Firewall of China comes down that will be a lynch pin signifying the start of a more superior revolt against the communist regime and its hazardous effect on the people of China.  

Blog Post # 5: Globalization and Cell phones?

Cell phone Subscribers as of 1990

             Oh, glorious cell phones. Could we have ever extended global outreach to so many without the help of such complex technology? As of 1990 cell phones were only a big deal in a few areas like the U.S., Japan, and Europe (as seen in the map above). However, in the next twelve years cell phone sales would shoot through the roof because of the ever growing cell phone industries in China, Southeast Asia, South America, and India (as seen in the image below). Now one might ask what this has to do with globalization, and quite simply put the cell phone expansion has almost everything to do with the rapid growth of globalization in the past twelve years.

            Globalization, as defined by overlord Helmer, is the increased interconnectedness between people especially when it comes to the three “C”’s capital, communication, and culture. Before capital and culture can be melded and integrated there has to be a line of communication open for both parties. In decades before the letter and the corded telephone was the preferred method of communication between two people separated by vast amounts of land or sea. Now, with the booming of the cell phone industry in LDC’s companies and normal folk alike can communicate instantly with friends, business associates, and loved ones in an instant. This leads to an increase in trade of both products and cultural trends by those involved in the cell phone pandemic. Which prompts me to say: thank God for cell phones!

Cell phone subscribers as of 2002

Blog Post # 4: Love in Indian Culture

            When it comes to love in Indian culture what do you think of? I always thought of arranged marriages and weird Bollywood movies that are hard to understand and interpret. While watching “Slumdog Millionaire” those beliefs were challenged and I decided to investigate further what love really means within Indian culture. I found that love is prevalent in Indian culture through the forms of marriage, death, and Bollywood films.

http://weddings.iloveindia.com/features/arranged-cum-love-marriage.html

            One issue not addressed by “Slumdog Millionaire” is the role of marriage in Indian culture. Contained in the link is an article about the evolution of marriage in India from the conservative and more traditional arranged marriage to the westernized and idealized love marriages. Throughout this article and many others like it, the author points out that Indian society is very adaptable and changes with the times very easily. Traditional marriages are accepted as a probability for all young Indians, but a growing number of young Indian men and women are taking part of love marriages. More and more the Indian culture is accepting of the fact that two people can and should be able to choose their life partner based on a deep romantic passion for each other.



wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal



            Everyone has heard of the Taj Mahal and everyone has seen the grand display and the beauty of the 17^th century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s architectural masterpiece.  What does this fine piece of architecture have to do with love? Emperor Jahan built this magnificent structure for his late wife Mumtaz Mahal (May she rest in peace). The Taj Mahal is seen as a symbol of eternal love, and is also viewed as one of the most beautiful building in the world. Now, if you had a majestic masterpiece in your backyard as a symbol for eternal love wouldn’t you place a strong personal preference on the loved one’s in your life? Looking back at Shah Jahan we see that love was never and still is not, a touchy subject in Indian society and culture. Love is not hidden from modern day India, but instead is prevalent in the artistry and magic of Bollywood.

           Bollywood, Bollywood, Bollywood. Over the course of many You Tube clips I started to notice that, compared to Hollywood, Bollywood films focus less on the human control over the situation and more on the view point that fate decides love and relationships. This is seen in both “Slumdog Millionaire” and the clip from “Eternal Love” seen below. If fate, or one of many gods, were to decide whom you were to love then would it be easier to spend the rest of your life with somebody never second guessing if she/he was “the one”? In Bollywood films love is seen as a sacred topic meant to be respected whereas in Hollywood love is seen as a free flowing form of expression. 

            In summation, the Indian culture does not shy away from love by any means. In fact, Bollywood and the Taj Mahal are standing symbols of expressing love as loud and as clear as one can. While, at the same time, marriage is seen as the means through which people can express that love in a lifelong bond no matter if it were arranged or not. In the end, I have realized that India is a very loving place surrounded by examples past and present of deep romantic love for generations to come.



Blog Post # 3: The Funeral Rituals for the People of Sulawesi

         When you think of a funeral what do you think of? How many days does it last? Are people crying and whaling as loud as they can? For most people living in a westernized culture the funeral procedure is roughly the same. We mourn, gather, eat, and repeat for a day or two then we go on our way. It would be absurd if someone brought a buffalo to be sacrificed in honor of Nana, but, as the video shows, in some cultures the funeral process is drastically different from ours. For the Torajan’s native to Sulawesi the funeral lasts for days and the killing of buffalo is a regular occurrence.

         Is the procedure the Torajan go through wrong because it differs so much from ours? No, cultural standards change with differing geographical locations. As geographers, we have to understand that other people’s behaviors differ based on history, geography, and culture. Once we start to look deeper into the cultures of the unknown is when we can finally try to understand them. Or as the French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus once said “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”

Blog Post # 2: Australia and it's many problems (insert facepalm here).

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/england-reign-on-australia-day-to-keep-series-alive-20110126-1a5hu.html




I am going to start off by admitting that I am a huge fan of sports. When it comes to sports Australia really has two; football (soccer) and cricket. As we learned in class Australia Day is the national holiday equivalent to our Fourth of July. Every year the Australian National Cricket Team plays a ceremonial game against their former mother country of England. The match lasts throughout the course of the week leaving the final match day to be held on none other than Australia Day. This last Australian Day series was a disappointing loss for the ‘Roos as England downed them 3-1 in a five match series as depicted in the article. The latest round of feuding between the two teams is a direct application of what the book says about the Australian ties to its ancestors. The book simply states that “70 percent of Australia’s population continues to reflect a British or Irish cultural heritage…and close cultural ties to the British Isles remain today” (p. 646). England and Australia seem to be better connected culturally than any pair of countries in the world even though the two countries are separated by such a great distance.  

http://www.smh.com.au/national/keep-the-australian-flag-immigration-minister-chris-bowen-says-20110126-1a4tk.html



One of the many new flag options



Australia has a very diverse population thanks to an onslaught of immigration from all around the world. The book goes as far as to say that “25 percent of Australia’s people are now immigrants” (p. 646). The article I found has to deal with the identification of a nation filled with immigrants. With the current flag as is, Australia does not represent 25 percent of its national population. This very point is illustrated when the authors of the book say “Australian society…has been changed forever by its varied immigrant mix” (p. 646). There are many people in the country who want to change the flag into something that represents the historical founding of Australia, the aborigine population, and the new found immigrant population as well. The flag, as it stands today, represents purely the historical background of the white Europeans who came across the sea and settled in Australia. Personally, I think that the flag is not a representation of the Australian population as it stands today. As the number of immigrants arriving in Australian ports raises so does the support for a new flag. I would not be surprised to see a new Australian flag in the next couple years.