The opening of part six was interesting to me because I know yesterday is history and history is history but to think that we may be living in another phase of historical development where current day events are the present and will later be marked on a time line seems so far away when in fact it is not because it is the present. It is also always interesting to realize just how much one person can influence the course of events that are later written down in history text books. The new Anthropocene era mentioned in the book where "...human activity is leaving an enduring and global mark on the geological, atmospheric, and biological history of the planet itself"(p 976) is actually scary and something that needs to changed immediately. Further, this era will probably be judged negatively by some in future generations. In addition, the book proposes and important question: "Will global inequalities and rivalry over diminishing resources foster even greater and more dangerous conflicts?" This is another question I have yet to ask myself.
It was also interesting to learn just how much war affected political and social life. Learning that "British women were encouraged to present a white feather, a symbol of cowardice, to men not in uniform, thus affirming a warrior understanding of masculinity" was interesting because it looks like this action supported gender roles whether they knew that or not. Further, I also learned that Mothers Day was created to encourage childbearing after the men returned from war so that men would not have to compete for "men's jobs", ultimately resulting in the encouragement of patriarchy. Further, if capitalism during the Great Depression was seen as such a devastating system, why do we still practice it? It is also nice to see that when a pressing issues arises, people strike and express their concerns.
http://truththeory.com/2015/03/28/one-of-the-most-important-videos-you-should-watch/
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