Undercurrents of Imperialism and Colonialism in Star Trek
Star Trek mirrored the Cold War/Vietnam paranoia of the late sixties—in command of the Enterprise, the Federation had an uneasy peace with its adversaries, the Klingons and Romulans (there were many episodes that came down to Kirk vs. the Klingons). In one episode Kirk and his Klingon counterpart each tried to influence an emerging culture to see things their way—remember Vietnam, Chile, and El Salvador? In another, Kirk and Spock were sent to spy on the Romulans so they could steal their cloak (stealth?) technology. And there was Kirk: yellow shirt torn across his chest, with blood on his forehead or across his cheekbone. There would be a weapon in his hand—something primitive,
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“You really should cooperate with us,” Picard has been heard to say, “It is our highest law not to interfere with other cultures, but we may not be back this way for many years, maybe not in our lifetimes.” Uh-huh, very magnanimous of you, Picard. If not today, then next year, or next century, everyone will fall into the Federation’s sphere of influence. And what about all the aliens under Federation control? Hundreds of shapes, sizes, and colors (almost all humanoids) who aren’t slaves but are still part of the Federation. And then there was that inter-racial kiss between Kirk and Uhura (a kiss that was forced on them by aliens with telekinetic powers). Also consider how Star Trek has tried to be non-sexist—women officers who are mostly Star Trek phone operators in mini-skirts (“Captain, your wife is on line two”) and nurses (“Yes, doctor. No, doctor. Right away, …show more content…
Deep Space Nine takes place on a Federation outpost and is commanded by a man (Ben Sisco) whose leadership style is much like Kirk’s—confrontational. Voyager, on the other hand, is about a Star Fleet vessel stranded on the far side of the galaxy, which must find its way home (at top speed, a 70-year journey). More importantly, perhaps, Voyager is commanded by a woman—one Captain Janeway who, interestingly enough, doesn’t fall into the same cultural trap as her Star Trek predecessors because she seems to welcome diversity and respect alien cultures. Of course, whether this is a result of her and her crew’s being a lifetime’s journey away from their empire, or that she is a woman, or just the fact that the creators of Star Trek have come to understand the cultural elitism of their show, I couldn’t say (I hope it’s the latter). And while it is possible that the only reason the new captain is a woman is that the creators have caved in to the politically (and morally?) correct gender politics of our society, the “Janeway style” is certainly a welcome departure from, and possibly a tacit acknowledgment of, the elitist style of earlier Trek
The Aztecs were a large group of Indian tribes.They were originally migratory and as they migrated they assimilatated other tribes. Through this process they joined together and became rich in civilization. The tribes the comprised the Aztecs were the Toltect whom the Chichimec [Aztecs] conquered in the early 1300's A.D. The Toltect embarked on conquests, which resulted in the Aztecs becoming a dominate civilization of their time.(1) Their migratory pattern stopped on the southwestern border of Lake Texcoco as they discovered an eagle sitting on the stem of a cactus, holding a serpent in his talons with his wings open to the sun. This as an omen from the gods.(4) The Aztecs finally settled in central Mexico, where Mexico City is now located, and began building Tenochtitlan in 1325. Over time the civilization's control spanned from Tenochtitlan east to the Gulf of Mexico and south to Guatemala.(1)
The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people that lived in the area of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. It is said that Aztecs came from a place called Aztlan. Aztlan was the Aztec's homeland, nobody knows exactly where it was, but it is believed that Aztlan lies somewhere to the north of Mexico. Some experts claim that Aztlan is a mythical place. According to Aztec legends Huitzilopochtli, their god of war and of the sun, told them to leave Aztlan and to wander until they saw an eagle on a cactus budding out of a rock and eating a snake. The Aztecs traveled many years to find the legend that Huitzilopochtli had told. They left Aztlan in the 12th century. They built their settlements in the Valley of Mexico by Lake Texcoco. There were other Indian tribes living in the area when the Aztecs arrived. The Aztecs called their settlement Tenochtitlan. By the time they settled after two centuries of voyage they called themselves by a different name, the Mexica, but the term Aztec has been used as a ...
The purpose of this poster is to visually represent how the Aztecs used power to
...adors were more sophisticated, and had developed from an entirely different type of combat known to the Aztecs. The Aztecs basically lived on their military training, which was far more extensive than most military training in Spain. While Aztec combat focused on capturing prisoners, European military techniques were made to kill and destroy and opponent. The Aztecs were a culture which placed so much importance on their military; they started wars simply because of a need to sacrifice victims. This culture was also in a near continuous state of war with their neighboring people. Much like the Spartans of Europe, every single male received military training.(Katz, 1958) This requirement helped make the Aztec army highly effective in battle. Aztec culture helped create a fighting force that was among the best in the Americas at the time.(Cortes-Rincon, 2013)
Throughout the centuries on Earth, Great Empires expanding mass amounts of territory have arose, and crumbled in the forms of the Persian Empire, Roman Empire, Han Dynasty, Mongolian Empire, and the Aztec Empire only to falter to the test of time. All great Empires are formed by having a distinctive advantage over their neighbours whether it be in military tactics, or technologies that allowed them to exploit the weaknesses of their rivals. The Mexica was a religious and militaristic society, causing their warriors to be extremely skilled in combat, allowing them to vigorously expand, and subjugate kingdoms in the Mexico Valley, with their constant need of captives for sacrifice, and allowing them to sustain their warrior class system. The
The religion and culture of the Aztecs played a role in the way the way they thought and fought. They worshiped the war-god Huitzilopochtli. He was identified with the sun and was called "the Giver of life" and "the Preserver of Life" (xxxix). The religion carried some ridiculous rituals such as human sacrifice along with using magicians and wizards to cast spells. In war conditions, human sacrifice played a big role because the Aztecs would not fight to kill,...
Following World War II, the concrete nature of imperialism, or the subjection of people or groups based on a social, economical, or racial hierarchy, was seemingly in decline. For instance, India and Pakistan had both gained their independence from Britain in 1947 (p.761), and the French, though unwillingly, gave up their colonies in Vietnam (p.754), but with the development of the Cold War there became a need to ideologically separate the free “First World”, which was made up of western Europe and the United States, from the communist “Second World”, which was primarily made up by the Soviet Union. This separation unintentionally formed yet another hierarchy, and further perpetuated imperialistic notions. While the Soviets attempted to continue political imperialism in surrounding states to form a political and economic buffer from democratic nations, which due to globalization, or the mass integration of cultural and economic practices, would have been necessary to accomplish, many nations, such as the U.S., who subscribed to these democratic beliefs still counterintuitively practiced imperialism in their attempts to forcefully liberate communist nations based on the notion that their free way of life was superior to other’s communist status quo. Therefore, imperialism continued to surface through the dualist political line drawn by the Cold War, but also later through a need to stay competitive culturally and economically in a growing global community in states both subject to past colonizing nations, as well as the nations who relinquished their control over them.
The Rise and fall of the Aztec Empire is possibly the most important area of study in the modern world. Of all of the nomadic tribes who migrated into Mexico, the Aztecs were one of the last. At first driven away by established tribes, the Aztecs slowly began to develop an empire of immense wealth and power by the late fifteenth century. Due in large part to the accomplishments of their ruler Itzcoatl, the empire expanded to include millions of people from a number of different tribes, including the Cempoala, who would later aid the Spanish in defeating the Aztecs. Because of the "melting pot" within the empire, the Aztecs had a very diverse culture. However, this immense Aztec Empire would soon be brought to its knees by the doings of one man and his army.
...ican propaganda during the later period of the Cold War and its distortion of what threats lie at the relative east in an effort to raise concern over the intercontinental standoff. Even with the Cold War’s perpetuation since 1945, the tensions between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia are interceded only by the all too unfortunately plausible concept of Mutually Assured Destruction. During the height of the burgeoning motion picture industry and the apex of the cold war, the directors of such films intended on producing motion pictures that would depict Soviet Russia and its destructive and innovative potential. Thanks to this industry, the era would be successful in raising the American society’s sense of awareness toward the Soviet’s ingenuity; thus increase the support of the United States populous’ stance in the anti-Soviet movement.
Although there are many other important factors, the main cause of the rise of imperialism was most certainly economic. The Age of Empire, by Eric J. Hobsbawn, provides an interpretation of New Imperialism. Hobsbawn calls imperialism “a natural by-product of the international economy” (Sherman pg 177). He is basically saying that imperialism is dependent on the rivalries of competing industries, which continually drive the international economy. Hobsbawn also dictates the need for external markets. The Industrial Revolution created many products that needed markets, thus creating a need of colonies. Hobsbawn believed that the overproduction of the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression could be solved. He also realized that many businessmen knew that they could make a large profit off of China’s large population. For example, if every one of the three hundred million Chinese purchased one box of tin-tacks the businessmen knew that there would be a huge profit, consequently increasing the desire for colonization of weaker countries.
...presenting Aztec gods). The eagle represented the images of the sun while descending and the jaguar represented the death of the sun (when the sun was not present in the sky). “This solar association refers to the Aztec warrior’s primary function, acquiring victims to nourish the sun” (Pasztory, 82). The ixcahuac, obsidian stone knives can be found in the Museo Nacional de Antropoligia, Mexico.
The Rise of American Imperialism The idea of American Imperialism has both its advocates and its critics. One only needs to look at a map to see which side won. America has greatly expanded since its own phase as a colony of the greatest European Empire of the time. America became her own Empire through the accusation of vast territories through many different means.
Good communication is an essentialvalue for successful relationships, whether personal or professional. Many researchers have stated that most of our communication is non-verbal. Non-verbal communication includes body language, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and the tone of our voice. The ability to understand and use non-verbal communication is great skills that will help individualsconnect with others, when trying express feelings, handlingdifficultsituations and creating relationships with other in various places.Non-verbal communication is the body way of sending messages between people. These messages can be sent through emotions, gestures, engagement, voice tone, posture, and clothing.
Communication is important in relationships as it allows us to share our interest, concerns, support each other; organize our lives and make decisions; and it allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on the way we talk and listen, how we respond and our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate.
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.