Unit 2 Guns, Germs, and Steel

Recap- I learned in this unit that many current issues in the world revolve around geography. Geography is the main reason that some countries have more advantages over other countries. For example, in Papa New Guinea people are stilling living like people lived thousands of years ago. The people there hunt and gather there food, which the Native Americans did thousands of years ago. This is because where the Papa New Guinea people are located on the earth. Where they live, there are no domesticated animals, and the land there cannot be farmed because of the soil. While the Native Americans were advancing in technology due to surplus in food, the Papa New Guineans were still hunting for food to stay alive. The Europeans were able to advance much faster than the Americans because of their location. Jared Diamond was once asked the question" Why do you white people have some much more cargo than us", by a local New Guinean named Yali. He set out to find this answer, and the answer was geography.





Revisit- I researched the online encyclopedia and I found a source explaining some of the conlonization of Africa, "Henry the Navigator" (). Henry the Navigator traveled through Africa spurring the foreign colonization of Africa. They also obtained gold from Africa's rich soil and this sparked colonial slave labor. I also researched a source "Fighting African Poverty, village by village" and found that this site is telling about helping children have food. In Ghana, there is such a thing as the Millennium Villages Project. Local farmers were able to quadruple the size of their fields and they were able to make income. They also gave a tenth of their crop to help the kids at the schools. This Project plans to go from village to village helping feed children in need. In Zambia, there are women standing up to help feed children. They want to help the children in Zambia and help them with food and education.






Reflect- I believe that the world will not always be this way. I believe that we will advance our technology to the point where everyone has just as much chance in this world as another. I feel, however, that for right now, we will have to find ways of facing these global inequalities with good intentions. As we know today, willing people have done what they can to help people in Africa, who may not have the resources to carry themselves alone. However, for the people that are unfortunately located in this world, we have not done enough to help them. From what I saw on Guns, Germs, and Steel, New Guineans are having to live uncivilized due to their location and our lack of attention. From what I know, there is nothing we can do to change the way of the soil there, but we could help domesticate animals there. Having domesticated animals would help the New Guineans farm, and provide milk for them. The animals could also provide a steady source of meat and protein, which these people do not get very often. I think that geography has taken its toll on people in this world, and am very surprised people have not taken action in helping the people who are suffering from geographical location.