Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Chapter 13 Part II - Sweet Nexus


The handout begins by stating that we live in a world of commodities. It’s a great way to engage us readers by putting things into perspective; people have produced the chairs, the tables, and the white boards we use in the classrooms. In a way we all take things for granted opposed back then where people of hierarchal status were only able to consume in such commodities. Going back to the Europeans and their success with managing their scattered empires, the north western part of Europe became the core of the modern world economy. One thing I found interesting in the reading was that drugs that produces an altered state of being was central in production and exchanging. I question how controlled and safe it was for drugs to be produced and exchanged. Even to this present day drugs such as marijuana is legal in some states, but what about back in the day? What kinds of drugs were the people consuming? The Europeans impacted everyone internationally with the distant parts of the world they colonized.  Lastly, tracing back the origin of sugar somewhat reminds me a game of telephone but with sugar. People all over utilized sugar differently, like how the Europeans produced rum and molasses with sugar and, interestingly, it was also used primarily as medicine. Overconsumption in sugar was considered unhealthy all thanks to the tooth decay of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Thank you Queen Elizabeth I. 

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