Views on the Effects of the Advent of Agriculture
4,000 BC:
Today, I awoke when the sun was just over the treetops. It was wonderful to be
able to sleep in again. Our last hunt was so successful, we've had enough meat to feed the entire tribe for three days, now, and we feel that it will suffice until tomorrow, when we'll go out again. The big game is everywhere, lately. Later on this afternoon, I plan on taking our tribe's oldest son out into the wilderness to help him with his spear-throwing technique. I slept with one of the women of our tribe last night. My cousin will lay with her tonight, and her sister has asked me to lay with her . For some reason, the rythm of the furs seems to be most passionate just before a hunt. Perhaps it's the beat of the drums of the Ceremony of the Hunt; the dancing of the bon-fire flames; the voices of men and women shouting the invocations of the Bison-gods, again thanking them for the sucess of the last hunt. We praise them for the abundance they provide. So tomorrow, we will again set out to find another herd of large game which will hopefully feed us for another three or four days. We follow the game. No two more than four or five nights are ever spent in the same place. It is the dynamic nature of our people. If we stay too long in one place, the Earth will not provide for us. We must move on. Nothing is more refreshing than seeing the dawn in an entirely new surrounding (except, perhaps, not seeing the dawn at all, because the previous evening was so good).
1,500 BC:
I killed my brother yesterday. He fornicated with my woman. I came home from
my days work, harvesting the potatoes, and found him mounting her in my own house. It
was my right to take his life. The rest of the village was pleased with my actions. I was protecting my possessions. When I first caught the two of them, I called two of my cousins to help detain my brother. That evening, we held a meeting with the chief and all the wise men of the village. It was decreed that I was to take his life in full view of the whole village. The only time such things are allowed is during the Fertility Dances which take place only once a year, and whose time is dictated by the chief.
After reading McKibben and Hurst’s articles in the book Food Matters, both authors present arguments on “industrial farming”, and although Hurst provides a realistic sense on farming, McKibben’s suggestions should be what we think about.
``In criminal law, confession evidence is a prosecutor’s most potent weapon’’ (Kassin, 1997)—“the ‘queen of proofs’ in the law” (Brooks, 2000). Regardless of when in the legal process they occur, statements of confession often provide the most incriminating form of evidence and have been shown to significantly increase the rate of conviction. Legal scholars even argue that a defendant’s confession may be the sole piece of evidence considered during a trial and often guides jurors’ perception of the case (McCormick, 1972). The admission of a false confession can be the deciding point between a suspect’s freedom and their death sentence. To this end, research and analysis of the false confessions-filled Norfolk Four case reveals the drastic and controversial measures that the prosecuting team will take to provoke a confession, be it true or false.
In the adversarial justice system, when the offender admits to the criminal act, there is no further controversy and the case promptly proceeds to sentencing. Physical evidence and victim or witness statements may often be overlooked and not considered. The confession is considered unequivocal evidence of guilt and a conviction is ensured. Indeed, the interrogation process’ sole purpose is to obtain a confession. Zimbardo (1967) estimated that “of those criminal cases that are solved, more than 80% are solved by a confession.” (Conti, 1999) Without the confession, convictions may be reduced significantly. So why does a person falsely confess to a crime if the likelihood of a conviction is eminent? A false confession to any crime is self-destructive and counterintuitive.
Agriculture was the prevailing economic activity in England and Europe through the early modern era. The agricultural revolution laid a fundamental base for the industrial revolution. If agricultural productivity in England grew between the middle ages and the nineteenth century, then most of it occurred before the mid-eighteenth century. It all started with the “Bing-Bang”, the Black Death of 1348. Followed by new crops and techniques, increases in output and land improvement but also urban growth, agriculture became much more productive. Institutions such as enclosures and large farms are said to have increased productivity by encouraging farmers to adopt those new crops and techniques. However, there is little direct evidence for the actual impact of changes in land tenure on agricultural productivity. Indeed, the consequences of the enclosure movement on agricultural productivity has been a deeply debated topic in English economic history.
farmers could now be accessed from all over the country in just a couple of
This famous soliloquy offers a dark and deep contemplation of the nature of life and death. Hamlet’s contemplative, philosophical, and angry tones demonstrate the emotions all people feel throughout their lifetimes.
Schindler’s List had a great effect on me personally. I thought that Thomas Keneally did an excellent job in making the reader feel the events of the time. Perhaps what I found to be most interesting in Schindler’s List is a question of morality. I began asking myself the question, would I be as heroic as Oskar Schindler if I were in his shoes? I think that this is exactly what Keneally wanted us to do; he wanted us to look at ourselves and analyze what’s inside. Historically, I find Schindler’s List to be very important not only because it is tells of a shameful time in western civilization, but also because the events that took place in the novel occurred only yesterday. After all fifty years is almost nothing in historical terms. Perhaps the novel’s greatest strength is this feeling that the events that transpired in Schindler’s List are in fact modern history.
The Neolithic Revolution, more commonly known was the Agricultural Revolution, was an inevitable and evolutionary change for human kind. The domestication of plants and animals was detrimental to the development of man, and created the first civilizations: Catal Huyuk and Jericho. The Agricultural Revolution spurred the development of society, specialization and cultural diversity; however, critics argue that the domestication of animals and plants led to the Bubonic Plague and gluttony. Farming and herding have been proven, otherwise, to have not been associated with the Bubonic Plague, and instead to have improved the accessibility of food and led to the development of the modern world.
The blessing and curse of the Agricultural Revolution is advocated with its augmentation and dissemination. Taking the stipulative definition of “blessing” and “curse” from the original premise, one can only superimpose the layman’s terms of “negative” and “positive”. Upon examination of the two classifications within the Neolithic Period and ancient Mesopotamian civilization one can confirm the premise. Therefore, the agriculture revolution was a blessing and a curse for humanity. Human society began to emerge in the Neolithic Period or the New Stone Age. This new age began around 9,000 B.C.E. by the development of agriculture in the region surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and what is commonly referred to as “The Fertile Crescent” located in West Asia.1 The very development of agriculture had benefited humans by no longer having to move about in search of wild game and plants. Unencumbered by nomadic life humans found little need to limit family size and possessions and settled in a single location for many years. One negative aspect of this settling is that the population increased so much so that wild food sources were no longer sufficient to support large groups. Forced to survive by any means necessary they discovered using seeds of the most productive plants and clearing weeds enhanced their yield.2 This also lead humans to develop a wider array of tools far superior to the tools previously used in the Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age. The spread of the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period also cultivated positive aspects by creating connections with other cultures and societies. Through these connections they exchanged knowledge, goods, and ideas on herding and farming.3 Another major positive aspec...
The Agricultural Revolution gradually transforms from the old traditional agricultural system to a more productive system. The Dutch Republic and above all England led the way to the growth and improvement in agriculture in the early 18th century that spread throughout Europe. These gradual improvements saw important developments through new farming techniques and equipment, and experimentation with new crops and crop rotation. Along with new farming techniques and new patterns of crop rotation, also came the improvement of livestock breeding. The improvements paved the way for better crop yields, a greater diversity of vegetables, the ability to support more livestock and led to a surplus of food that impacted society as the population became better nourished and healthier. From the increase in agricultural productivity during the Agricultural Revolution also contributed to the increase in population. In addition to the Agricultural
It took many years for the tremendous change of lifestyle of the early human communities. At the begging of the Neolithic Period humans were nomads who followed their food source moving from one place to another. Early civilization used to hunt wild animals and gather wild plants to survive. It was until ca 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic Period when Agricultural Revolution began. Due to Agricultural revolutions humans begging to settle in one place and focus on particular economy, political, religion and activities. Agricultural revolution was the moving from foraging to producing animals and plants for human use through domestication. Agriculture was invented individually in different parts of the world and slowly spread to some areas
The agricultural revolution of the nineteenth century was caused by many important factors. Before the revolution, people working in the farms were living entirely on what they could produce. Most farmers were extremely hesitant to make any changes in the methods they had been using for farming mainly because, although the payoff would be fairly large, if it didn't work, the mistakes could cost them their lives (Kagen).
When a Jewish girl living in Krakow under fabricated papers visits Schindler, and she asks that he hire her parents to work in his factory. He is furious with the girl and she runs from him, fearing for her life and her liberty. Schindler expresses his rage at Stern, whom he accuses of giving refuge to Jews in the "haven" of a factory. Schindler is not angry at the idea ...
Throughout the years, farm equipment has grown and that means that the farmer can work more land and produce more yield. “More common and current agriculture equipment.” (Smyly) In the world we live in today farmers use GPS that drive the tractor automatically; therefore there are less mistakes, that begin with saying there farmer use less seed, and comically, it makes farming more efficient. “Technology allows the tractor to do much more work.”
A film bursting with visual and emotional stimuli, the in-depth character transformation of Oscar Schindler in Schindler’s List is a beautiful focal point of the film. Riddled with internal conflict and ethical despair, Schindler challenges his Nazi Party laws when he is faced with continuing his ambitious business ideas or throwing it all away for the lives of those he once saw as solely cheap labor. Confronted with leading a double life and hiding his motivations from those allegiant to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Schindler undergoes numerous ethical dilemmas that ultimately shape his identity and challenge his humanity. As a descendent of a Jewish-American, Yiddish speaking World War II soldier who helped liberate concentration camps in Poland, this film allowed for an enhanced personal