World’s Largest Economies – 2012 (est.)
1. United States
14,991,300
2. China
7,203,784
3. Japan
5,870,357
4 Germany
3,604,061
5. France
2,775,518
EU – 17,010,011
U.S. Immigration
- christian evanjelicals have tended to oppose ‘amnesty’
- recently, domestic evangelization has incorporated enough illegal
immigrants to allow the ‘cadre’ to see the “face” of immigrants, and
switch from biblical opposition to law-breaking to biblical calls for
compassionate acceptance and incorporation.
- from a purely political view, evanjelicals as conservatives are now
seeing the burgeoning hispanic vote. Typically, newcomers also
influence the host. As always, we are all changed my migration.
(Notice that I referred to ‘illegal immigrants’ and then ‘hispanics’ as if they
were the same. Tobler’s law still works. Illegal immigration occurs from and
to every nation, but mostly from adjacent territories – same as from Africa to
Europe)
Arab Spring
See question #3 of quiz #3. The mode of communication can
be exclusive, but information itself is typically exclusive as well.
Reuters, April 2, 2011
What is the “predominant”
U.S. religion?
1. The most broadly spread geographically? (such as
having the largest plurality of population in the most U.S. counties?)
2. Largest total number of adherents in the United
States?
3. The most broadly spread geographically?
4. The most influential, holding the most wealth
or public office?
Gerrymander
(p383 cherry pick, re-district, enhance)
Wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering (Illinois
4th congressional district)
SLC “Cherry picking?”
Religion in the United States
1. Unlike most of the world’s “core” countries, a
majority of people in the United States report
religion being very important in their lives
2. The United States may be the most religiously
diverse country on Earth: most other countries
tend to be dominated by one or two religions
3. There are at least 200 Protestant denominations in
the United States
4. In the United States, 76% report being Christian,
with 51% as Protestant, 24% as Catholic (compare
to map) and most of the remainder reporting no
affiliation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
Secular & Sectarian
The United States is probably the world’s best
candidate for being both:
- Secular – as in separating religion from governance
- Sectarian – as in distinct lines drawn between one
religion and another. (This definition does not focus on conflict
and unfairness, but only in recognizing the emphasis often placed in
distinguishing one sect from another.)
Certainly, there is not typically a very positive correlation between orthodox
intensity and tolerance of deviation, particularly in regard to religion.
Sectionalism & Regionalism(p376)
- North v South California contemplated split
over manageability of the state and voting
patterns;
- U.S. civil war: economics, culture, race (Mason
Dixon & Missouri compromise;
-
Quebec and Canada;
Yugoslavia (Balkanization)
Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Russia
Northern Ireland
Balkanization – shatter zone
(and Serbian roots of WWI)
P377 fig 9.32 shows even
more geographic complexity
For that matter, Poland (and
the rest of Eastern Europe
have been trampled many
times – net worthwhile?
NIMBY
(p378)
The tendency to exclude genuine noxious land
uses as well as people who are ‘different’:
• Homeless shelters, half-way houses, group
homes, anything that might appear to reduce
property value or present a management
issue.
• Vast U.S. case law has broken down ‘redlining’
and restrictive covenants, etc. (no lunch boxes, no
pickup trucks, no non-whites, etc.)
Cities
(Chp 10 – Urbanization p389-420)
-
1.6 billion people lack sanitation; 1.7 million will die from contaminated water &
poor hygiene;
40 million in china alone dying from coal-fired personal use of coal; (Jack Hamilton,
UEES);
-
-
Half of world population lives in cities; (p390 – compare to 6th edition)
80% of periphery will be in cities (and 60% of all people) by 2030;
Anciently, cities were relatively more for protection (hilltops) and hosted the first
farm surplus results – modern cities foster innovation, foment, escape, and
progress, specialization, trade;
Anciently, leading cities were + 150,000; today hundreds of cities top 1,000,000;
World’s Ports and Largest Cities
(22/30 are seaports? – p411)
- Mumbai(12?), Lagos(11) Cape Town(4), Sydney(5), Singapore(5),
Bangkok(8), Kolkata(14), Hong Kong(16), Taipei, Osaka, Tokyo(1336), Sapporo, Shanghai(17), Istanbul(14), Hamburg, London(13),
Rotterdam(0.6), St. Petersburg, Barcelona, Marseille(0.8), Rio de
Janeiro(6), Buenos Aires(21), Miami(3), New York(8), Washington
DC(0.7), Boston(0.6), Chicago(3), Toronto(3), Los Angeles(13),
Cairo(13), Seattle(2), Manila(12) , Sao Paulo(12), Brussels(1),
Amsterdam(0.7), Dhaka(7)
- Non-ports: Beijing (15), Bogota(8), Delhi(22?), Karachi(13), Lima(8),
Mexico City(21), Seoul(11), Moscow(12)
•
•
•
•
Note: What is the difference between city proper and the MSA, MTA, environs?
It is easy to see the trend in peripheral urban growth far exceeding core-city growth.
Major cause of peripheral urban growth is onset of demographic transition (LD/HB)
Over-urbanization – lack of jobs and housing (over “ruralization” too?)
Miami as Latin American Gateway
- English speaking
- About 2.5 million people
- Located at extreme northern edge of a mostly
southern hemispheric realm
Counter-urbanization(p416)
• Many core cities lost population (as in “rust
belt”) but only temporarily; (re-concentration based on
deepening specialization continues anew)
• “Demand for information and communcations
technologies is overwhelmingly driven by the
growth of metropolitan markets”; (I thought it was the
other way around)
• Splintering, specialization neighborhoods,
enclaves, gated cities, theme districts;
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
(sec 9.3 –p 380)
• Textbook page 380): “The official Jewish state of
Israel is a mid-twentieth century construction that
has its roots in the emergence of Zionism, a late
nineteenth-century European movement.
Zionism’s chief objective has been the
establishment of a legally recognized home in
Palestine for the Jewish people.”
• How would it sound to ‘establish a Muslim
homeland in Zion?’
Balfour Declaration
-
British defeat at Gallipoli – Dardanelles
Balfour Declaration – Mandate for Palestine
U.S.A. entered WWI
Withdrawal of Czarist Russia from WWI
Collapse of Ottoman Empire (1920) (Britain lost the fight,
but won the war)
- Firmed-up British control in Middle East (and oil)
- 1923 – Kemal pushed Turkey to the West
Palestine
• Is level of conflict and international attention
meaningfully related to:
-
Geographic size of the region?
Economic productivity in world markets?
Location as a node, crossroads or key linkage?
Importance for technology, communication or
world/regional leadership or influence? <maybe?>
-
Else? The place of Judaism in world affairs? <not proportionate to its population>
Palestine
British withdrawal (to U.N.) in 1948
U.S. persistence in Middle East as of 2014
The emerging role of China – how do we
separately define Asia?
Allegedly:
- China views Asia as the entire
continent and much of the Middle East
(including its oil);
- The United States views Asia as
the western Pacific rim, particularly N/S
line from China through Vietnam;
(The Dispensable Nation).
New World Order (NOW) (p364)
<your view?>
With collapse of Soviet block the NOW assumes
that U.S. becomes sole superpower (dominance
in culture, politics and economics) for
promotion of liberal democracy and
globalization through transnationals.
“Terrorism is becoming an increasingly
important factor in global geopolitics.” (p 364)
World’s largest supplier of armaments?
Terrorism
<read from page 365, 2nd column>
P363 – “domino theory” <SLCC history teacher said that
a strong king in Thailand blocked spread of communism
after Vietnam.
Do we have a new “domino theory” in the alleged rise
of Islam?
Cuban vs Turkish Missile Sites
What is the purpose of Guantanamo
Bay and concurrent economic
sanctions?
Read from p357 – colonization created
a north-south divide – imperialists
above (!) and periphery below.
“The crucial point is that a relation of
dependence was set up between . . . “