The Differences and Similarities between the Teachings of Jesus and other Religions and Philosophies

Why do Empires Form???

A nontechnical way of explaining why empires form is that an oppurtunity arises that is just too good to turn down. This perfect oppurtunity can consist of a rebellion for new leadership, or even just political instability. An example of this is when Julius Caesar took over Rome as a dictator and unified all straggling aspects of the society.He won over the displeased under class and provided them with an alternate and better lifestyle, ultimately bribing them.He was intelligent because he knew to start from the ground up winning over the majority of the people first. This was a well though out strategy because it did not involve any warfare, which would create people who did not like Caesar. Instead it was a gradual transition to a new leader that most of the citizens liked. Similar to how the Roman empire was founded, the Qin dynasty also targeted the lower class when first developing as an empire. They looked to bribe their peasants and farmers and in exchange they developed a pretty stable empire and a kickin army to go with it. Another empire that also benefited from the seizing the moment technique to establish itself was the Mauryan dynasty led by Chandragupta Maurya. He was smart enough to seize the empire that Alexander the Great left behind and turn it into a successful Indian empire. All of these examples represent how an empire is established from seizing great opportunities.
 

Thea final stage of Empire

Struggle for power. Caesar dies. Augustus rises. Romans hate monarchy

Finally an Empire

Takes over Mediterranean in less than 30 years, those selfish Romans

Still a Republic...

Standardized laws to maintain authority and form empire yet too many of them

Rome as Republic

Rome demands control, and sets extremely harsh rules to maintain it and unify under one empire

Internet vs. Textbook...the inevitable cagematch

On Friday when we had the oppurtunity to use Wikepedia it was a slap in the face as to how advanced these iPads have made our school. I especially found the app wikipanion to be helpful because it allowed for instant access, and the toolbar on the side eliminated all confusion about navigation throughout the site. Compared to the textbook I found wikipedia to be more accessible and easier to understand, and its gradual breakup of categories provided a friendlier layout than the size 8 font, 1 page paragraph format of the textbook. I actually had to break out my glasses that I haven't worn since the fifth grade when I was reading over the summer. Although internet sources like Wikipedia have made our lives easier, and put less strain on our eyes, I still do not feel 100% comfortable using wikipedia as a source by itself. I like to use it as a background source, to catch the jist of what happened at a certain event or during a certain time period. However, I would never use wikipedia to write a paper, simply because anyone can log onto the website and make changes that might not be accurate. When I read the textbook I feel that I can rely on it for accurate historical evidence because years and years of research have gone into publishing it. Despite the number of times it put me to sleep the textbook is what I prefer to base my knowledge off of; and wikipedia is a simple introduction to that deep knowledge.

Comparing and Contrasting Caste Duties from the Bhagavad Gita to views of Confucius and Zarathustra

Throughout the Bhagavad Gita a few key points are stressed pertaining to the caste system that compare and contrast with the views of Zarathustra and Confucius. One of them is believing in an afterlife. According to the Bhagavad Gita this afterlife was the reincarnation in many things over and over again and gave people a reason not to fear death, especially when going into battle. This belief is somewhat similar to Zoroastrianism because they believed in a final judgement after you died, deciding your ultimate destination(heaven or hell). While Zoroastrianism contained life after death, Confucianism believed in no afterlife, and in the words of Joey from Friends, "when you're dead, you're worm food." another belief stressed in the Bhagavad Gita is that people's actions should be done from the good inside of them rather than for the reward. This related to Confucianism because Confucius believed being a good person to benefit the whole world rather than one person. In Zoroastrianism, they believed in being a good person, but they also committed good deeds to benefit themselves when it came to the final judgement.

What to Expect in a Blogpost

In my opinion, a blog post should prove a point in a short concise but informative manner. I love using the blog because it is an easy way to communicate and it gives us a little freedom as to what we give forth and present to the class. Although a blogpost can be short, it should always have supportive details and never cut corners. A blog should also be treated as a formal writing assignment when it comes to grammar. I'm not sure about everyone's opinion, but I hate stupid grammar mistakes because to me it represents a lack of effeort and it only takes reading something once over to fix them. Mistakes can also alter the way someone perceives or reads the information. In terms of length, I don't think a blogpost should be two sentences when you have to prove a point with detail, but it also doesn't have to be three paragraphs either. Longer isn't always better either because someone could be completely off topic or just lose the attention of their audience easily. Overall, I prefer quality to quantity, and as long as it gets the point through with enough supportive evidence who cares how long it is or what kind of style the person uses to get through to their audience.

Benefits of a leaders authority in their own culture

By conforming the Qin dynasty so that standards of measurements and axel lengths of carriages are all the same it makes it easier for the society to unify as a whole. As a leader they can gain more control over the society, and also gain benefits in trading by measuring goods, and making roads acceptable for all carriages. Also The society has a way of universally communicating and interacting with one another.

What American Government Needs

Book I. 22          The Master said, “I do not see how a man can be acceptable who is untrustworthy in word?  When a pin is missing in the yoke bar of a large cart or the collar bar of a small cart, how can the cart be expected to go?”

This selection from The Analects is meant to represent the structure of a good government. I think the United States government should take this specific excerpt into close consideration because of our history of dishonest and untrustworthy politicians. For example, Sal Demasi took bribes from many in exchange for contracts of approval on construction sites and other places of labor. By pocketing a rather large chunk of the money and going around the state, he committed a federal crime and shocked many. Also, there have been several American politicians who have been unfaithful to their wives and families. This does not directly rate to them being untrustworthy to the United States; however, if they wronged a loved one in the past, what would stop them from wronging a bunch of strangers for their own benefits. Overall, I think trust is a big issue in our country's politics and that we should attempt to fix this bump in the road by implementing this rule or another one similar to it.

Was Alexander the Great really "Great"?

In my opinion, I believe Alexander the Great really was great. He conquered numerous amounts of civilizations, built his own successful empire from the ground up, and died young at the height of his power with high honor and dignity. When he was at the young age of 20 he inherited and took full responsibility of the huge empire of Macedon, that had complete control of Greece. He then invaded Persia and fully conquered it within 10 years along with having control in Egypt, and expanding to Iran, Afghanistan, and even India. Along with spreading his own empire, he also was responsible for spreading the Greek culture and their extensive education throughout the eastern hemisphere as he expanded. Accompanying his superb leadership was his idealism. He was one of the first to integrate people of other cultures into his army and administration. Persians and Asians made up large quantities of his societies and he made sure they had some important roles. So, in a short span of 12 years he managed to conquer societies from Europe to Southeast Asia and be worshiped highly by not only his own people but by those he conquered too. They thought he was great then and he certainly still is great now.