I wish that this chapter would acknowledge the use on agent orange during the vietnam war and the long lasting effects that it had on so many people

I think part of the reason Malcolm X's words resonated so deeply with people is because many were growing tired of the waiting King speaks on in his Birmingham Jail Speech. And it feels more empowering to hear this, to hear someone saying that you and your group of people have power.

perhaps it is too traumatic for some to put themselves in the shoes of the poor and want them out of sight. This viewpoint is quite awful. Perhaps it would be easier to have empathy for those who are lower income if we actually engaged in community action

It baffles me how so much progress was jumpstarted during the Civil Rights movement and now it feels impossible to make any action towards change. Peaceful protest is met with heavy policing and people dying. It seems that politicians no longer care. The same tactics to create change then now feel useless. And politicians are going backwards in time, reversing things such as roe v wade which lower the birth mortality rates in the black community drastically.

I really loved this part of the chapter because, while I have learned about Rosa Parks and MLK, I have never heard this name or story until this class

this rapid increase of suburban homes and picture perfect families with similar dynamics seems to be an after effect of Mccarthyism and the need to blend in

I thin this is still something prominent: using the serotonin of buying to avoid thinking about what is hard to ponder. Ignorance is bliss and mindless consumerism is a way to remain ignorant to the world burning.

I find it interesting that so often people are given warnings of what will come and end up repeating history or ignoring what they do not want to hear.

His consistent use of calling the axis powers gangsters seems like a very intentional word choice to help alienate them and make them come across as bothersome gang of miscreants

This statement reminds me of how easy it is to access media nowadays and how difficult it can be to know what is true or not. I hope we will talk about this when we begin to talk about the present

He does a very good job at putting into perspective the extensiveness of the war. The way he lays out his reasonings for joining the war is as if there will be no questioning. His charisma is one of his most powerful traits as a president. The way he pauses between speaking each country and includes that each invasion happened without warning only helps further his point to the people

His intentional use of grouping words - in this case our - seems consistent throughout his speeches. His ability to speak to each individual in a uniting way is one of his most impressive tactics in maintaining national unity despite war, the great depression, etc.

The way he asks questions is alwyas in the form of a firm command. It is easy to understand why he was so good at leading and commanding the attention of people as well as their faith in him

I had been curious to hear this spoken about. the pilots had to have flown for 8 or more hours to make this happen which goes to show how dead-set they were on making this bombing happen.

I wonder if the women from other nations (outside of America) had the same problem post WWII of not being properly compensated for their service

I never had historical context for the origin of this meme so this was cool to learn

The tragedy of these acts of sexual violence and their abuse of comfort women, including drug-induced compliance, continues to affect Chinese people (women in particular)

I find it ironic that Hitler is a German nationalist despite being Austrian and that he has an extreme hatred to jews despite having a jewish mother. I've heard part of his hatred towards other nations was influenced by his rejection from an art school in Vienna (this also influenced his taking and burning of art; in addition to his desire for cultural erasure)

This must have been particularly good to hear his plan for action after having a president who didn't really know what to do

I'm sure this hit particularly hard in the farming community

This is kind of ironic to me seeing as Roosevelt came from a background of privilege and money and yet he is telling people that success does not come in the form of material wealth

This speech reminds me of a football coach trying to rally up his team with positivity

His positive reinforcement is a another tool he seems to use to gain support from the American people and get them to be on his side.

his consistent warnings against American people creating a self-fulfilling prophecy throughout his fireside chat stands out to me among the tools he utilizes to help citizens calm down

is this his way of introducing the new deal?

his charisma and confidence with what he says seems to be a strong suit in how he connects with people

the way that he explains how banks utilize people's savings without seeming to look down on the average citizen helps me understand why people were so captivated by him. He explains the workings of the economy and what he plans to do in response in a way that keeps people in the loop, rather than blind sheep wandering around

Across the 2 sides of the 2 party system, they may have their difference but they both consistently show an interest in economic benefit.

really goes to show how you may think you're safe but no one is. I tend to think of Minnesota as far away from the coast and therefore, less likely to experience natural disaster but if the Ogallala Aquifer isn't saved we may experience a second dustbowl

Reminds me of how militarized violence was used against George Floyd protests. Similarly, the George Floyd murder was also heavily shown in the media and news.

I love this so much, not sure why history classes don't mention this more

I can't help but wonder if this was part of the beginning of planned obsolescence

while perhaps off topic, I would like to know how bag balm (a vaseline alternative est. 1899) survived the Great Depression

This is so fascinating to me. I like learning about cults and extremist religions. I find it interesting to see so many cult-like religions who use the guise of falling under a branch of christianity to come across as harmless, yet we see the damage fundamentalist organizations have caused in Mormonism, Jehovah's witnesses, etc.

My whole life I've heard stories from men blaming their violence, anger, and harmful actions on alcohol (and often were believed) but I find that alcohol is not the direct cause of these actions - rather it has a tendency of bringing out people's true colors. It's easy to blame your actions on an external source yet many people who drink don't have a tendency towards violence.

I think this is a good example of how this time may have been called the Prosperity Decade but that name is only applicable to middle and upper class, white, straight, able bodied people (men in particular). While the people in power with the most privilege were able to distract themselves with entertainment, others were dying

People have a tendency of just wanting to forget; to compartmentalize the hard times into a little box and move on

I think this is a good example of ignorance is bliss. It's easy to ignore the hard parts when you're so distracted by keeping yourself entertained.

Its crazy to see the history of how enormous funding of the American military began and continued

It's interesting to see patterns of the majority of American citizens wanting wars to end (ex: this instance, Afghan war, Israel-Palestine conflict) but the people with power (politicians and the upper class) - although a minority - always getting what they want in the end

I've noticed a common theme throughout this chapter of previous generations with power wanting to avoid war while the new generation of those with power want it (ex: Roosevelt against it while JP Morgan Jr becomes involved; Victoria not becoming involved while her successors did become involved, etc.)

I hadn't known prior to this lecture that Germany had been an empire of multiple regions; and it was fascinating to learn how its unification was a key part of the start of WWI

I remember learning about another thing that women started doing was applying their lipstick in public in order to bring attention to their cause

A few thing about this were fascinating to me: 1. Perhaps it is simply my mind having a hard time to believe that something like this run by a white woman at the time was completely ethical, but I can't help but question what the house was like for everyone and whether or not those staying at the house were treated ethically. I suppose my question is whether or not the history of the hull house was white washed or not. 2. My second thought was (I've heard of hull house but only under historical references) how the house changed or stayed the same after the passing of Jane Addams; and when did the house meet its end? I was shocked to find that Hull House did not close until 2012

While I know it's not that safe to generalize, I often find that some of the richest people lack the most empathy and when surveying a problem, only think about the parts that affect themselves or just choose not to care because its easier that way.

I mean you gotta giggle at this.

This particular part of the chapter reminded me of how it is easier to eat foods when we don't know where they came from or pretend not to. Ignorance is bliss. This also reminded me of a video I watched about that begs the question: what will happen to all our farmland when this next generation of farmers retire and big corporations buy up the land?

I see this as a common pattern throughout history: the U.S. making promises to peoples in exchange for their help and then turning their backs on them. We see this in this case; and we've seen it in how the U.S. treated Hmong people after the Vietnam War

To be completely honest, I has never heard about Teddy Roosevelt's lore so learning this was interesting. People constantly talk about how he was loved by American people (particularly white Americans) but not necessarily how he got to that point. It kinda opened my eyes a little but didn't surprise me seeing as most prominent white figures in history didn't get there ethically. It was also interesting to see him make promises of diplomacy and then start wars behind the guise of "manly protestant duty".

I hate how the news we're given and the history books we read are all whitewashed to make us somehow believe that America is somehow superior to the rest of the world when we are one of the least safe places to visit and have a deep history of genocide and slavery.

this piqued my interest as I have heard numerous Native Americans refer to our part of Turtle Island as the US Empire or American Empire

it's crazy how history is constantly rewritten to make brown and indigenous people look like the bad guy when atrocities like this were being committed

I hope we can talk more about the roles women played in history and the jobs they took to get by, especially sex workers

Time and time again we watch while people function on the beliefs of racism and believing that they are in some way superior. Meanwhile these are the very beliefs that tear us apart and make us weaker, leading to failure of movements for change and loss of our humanity.

I really liked learning about Helen Keller's involvement in politics and hope to talk more about disability through history and the development of the ADA. Growing up with epilepsy I liked reading books about Helen Keller but they never discussed her involvement in politics (likely to remain neutral and get a variety of readers) but I think it's important to acknowledge that disabled people are often at the head of movements for change.

It's fascinating to me that many people who now live in rural areas are conservative, considering that many members of those areas are farmers and farming has such a long history of protest and demand for equality.

This reminds me of what Dan said in class about equal opportunity vs equal outcome. When those at the bottom rise to the top who are't white able bodied cis men, more often than not their success is stripped from them in the most volatile of ways (ex: the destruction of black wallstreet)

This "survival of the fittest" idea in relation to capitalism and the way Dan was talking about the thought process in class reminded me of how one has to think about things in order to come to that conclusion. The system is set up to fail for marginalized people so of course straight, cis, able-bodied, white men are the ones who end up majority at the top - not because they're better but because the system is set up for them.

It's really fascinating to me how Lincoln and other members of government utilized a federal banking system as a tool to keep the country togther

this is so fascinating to me because it reminds me of how we are no allowed to effectively protest. The way that policing works, effective protest can't really happen in the U.S. anymore. When people go to extremes (like those climate scientists who set themselves on fire) no one really cares and change doesn't happen. I'd lie to hear any other takes on this

This was interesting to me because my partner lives in one of the bungalow style houses that came in a catalog. This was a fun connection to make.