What is Ethnic Cleansing?

The term ethnic cleansing has been tossed around a lot lately. But not many people are explaining what it means. So in this article, you will find out its definition and examples of its uses.

Ethnic cleansing is just the worst, isn’t it? (hint: it is.)

This happens when, as Merriam-Webster puts it:

“The expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity.”

In laymen’s terms, ethnic cleansing is pretty much a dominant ethnic group coming into another nation and tries to remove the original ethnic group from that land via deportation, displacement, evictions, mass killing, or whitewashing.

Additionally, the ones who “cleanse” will also turn the land they attack into their own nation. They will remove the original laws, cultures, and traditions, and replace them with their own.

They pretty much jack the land and turn the original occupants into second-class citizens. Continue reading “What is Ethnic Cleansing?”

The Story of Victoria’s Chinatown

Victoria’s Chinatown

Are you curious about Victoria’s Chinatown? If so, read on and learn the story of one of the oldest Chinatowns in North American history.

I was initially doing some research for an article on Victoria, B.C. because I visited it many times when I was younger and wanted to learn more about it. And through my research, one fact caught my eye more than anything else –Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia!

Okay, just joking! That’s not the fascinating fact that I learned, though I didn’t know that prior to my research. The interesting tidbit is that Victoria’s Chinatown is the second oldest Chinatown in North America.

I always thought that New York’s and San Francisco’s Chinatowns were the two oldest. But nope, San Fran and Victoria are home to the two first Chinatowns in the Americas.

Intriguing right? Continue reading “The Story of Victoria’s Chinatown”

Vikings Are Not What We Thought

So, this is kind of silly, but over the past few months, I’m been really into Vikings. And the reason why is because of the series Vikings.

I watched it daily via Netflix and got really into it. I started researching about them and studied maps of where they were from and where they raided (I absolutely nerded out).

When I visited my niece and nephews, I even pretended to be a Viking and chased them around their house. It was super childish, I know.

But what I’m trying to get at is that I was infatuated with Vikings.

However, I came across this article earlier this week that dismantled almost every fact that I thought I knew about Vikings. Continue reading “Vikings Are Not What We Thought”

What is Anthropology? And What’s Ethnography?

Anthropology is the study of humans –culture, biological development, and social development. Ethnography is a way to study humans and cultures.

Anthropology was a course that I wanted to take in college. Every semester, I would try to sign up for a class, but the availability never matched up with my schedule. As a result, I never got the opportunity to take a course.

But a few years ago, I came across a book called Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I was at the book store one day and picked it up to see what it was all about. I skimmed through it, looked at some of the pictures, and was interested.

The first couple of times reading it was overwhelming. It’s a big book with big ideas, and I’m a slow reader. I would complete a chapter and see that there are still hundreds more pages to read.

But the book is thought-provoking. And that’s why I kept reading it.

Harari does a good job of explaining human history and the various theories of it.

After completing the book, which is a blend of history, psychology and anthropology, I wanted to learn more about the latter topic (remember, it was a course I wanted to take).

I felt like Sapiens was a good intro to the social science, but nothing in-depth. There weren’t any anthropological theories in it, even though it talked a lot about history, culture, and society. Continue reading “What is Anthropology? And What’s Ethnography?”

How Does Globalization Affect Society?

Globalization affects society by letting cultures spread around the world. This has mainly had positive effects on communities. But it has affected some negatively.

Have you ever heard of the phrase “this land was built by immigrants”?

It means that nations like the US and Canada were created by many, many cultures and traditions.

Growing up as an Asian-Canadian, I was exposed to multiple cultures.

I practiced Vietnamese traditions at home, western traditions at school and at McDonald’s, and a multitude of other ones when I went to my friends’ houses (I had a diverse group of friends).

And I was able to experience all of these different traditions in one place.

This is how globalization and society are related (well, one connection anyway). Continue reading “How Does Globalization Affect Society?”

How Are Globalization and Technology Interconnected?

Smartphones, the internet, nuclear, and oppression are all terms that can be used to describe the interconnection between globalization and technology. Can you see how they are related?

In the late 90s, my family and I moved away from our hometown.

We moved to a whole different province, actually. I had just hit my teen years and had to leave all of my friends, friends who I knew for many years.

But even though we were over 1000 km apart, we were still able to keep in touch, thanks to technology.

There was this app called ICQ back then (all my 90s kids know) that I used to chat with all of my faraway friends.

We also talked on the phone too.

But if it weren’t for all this new and innovative tech, we wouldn’t have been able to do this; we wouldn’t be able to easily communicate with each other.

I would have had to send handwritten letters just to see if my friend watched the latest wrestling match.

Nowadays, technology allows you to get in contact with anyone in the world.

And not just via text. Continue reading “How Are Globalization and Technology Interconnected?”

What is the Relationship Between Globalization and the Environment?

So, how are globalization and the environment related?

Well, just think about climate change. Does it affect just one region or does it affect the entire planet?

Please tell me you selected the latter choice.

Since climate change (or GLOBAL warming) is happening all around the world, when one person releases carbon into the atmosphere, it affects everyone and everything on the planet (although it’ll be a tiny effect).

If an entire region or country does it, then there will be much harsher effects.

This is why a lot of people are against the coal and oil industries.

They believe that these two are some of the biggest polluters in the world, and only a handful of countries actually benefit from them economically. Continue reading “What is the Relationship Between Globalization and the Environment?”