Blog #6:

How would an Athenian of the 5th Century BCE criticize our present-day representative democracy? (or.... how would they approve of it?)

An Athenian from the 5^th century would criticize or approve of our democracy based on where they sit as an individual. It could also be based on a more general part of their democracy. Their direct democracy is a lot different then our representative democracy. Two examples of this are, one something that has nothing to do with their title, voting laws. Two they have no middle man. No legislators or senators to pass or veto their votes.

Their voting laws had stated that a slave, women or anyone under 18 could not vote. The “ You have to be over 18 to vote” law still aplys, but we don't have slaves and women rights have changed a lot. Someone in higher power wouldn't like to see that there are no slaves and any man would not like seeing women with rights. Although, a women would very much like the opportunity to voice her opinion and a slave like seeing no slaves. Like I said it depends where you stand.

Although different individuals have different points of view, a representative democracy is something that affects everyone equal (at least people who can vote). It is already hard for us to see our decisions being decided a second time in a different way. Athenians would have trouble understanding why there decision was being ignored instead of falling through. Having a direct democracy os much simpler then a representative one.

Blog entry #5:

How do we see Mayan values exemplified in modern society?

We see Mayan values exemplified in modern society in many ways, a few o fthem are through religion, sports, and art. In religion we see creation stories that we see in Judaism and Christiantity. In sports we similar entertanment. And in art we see both cultures being reflected.

The Mayan creation stories are very similar to the ones we have in the Torah and Bible. For example the Mayans believed that in the very beginning there was nothing and no one to praise the Gods. Also, very similar God creates everything by word then he would command it good. In the Bible and the Torah there the story of Noah's Ark and the flood. There was a very similar flood in the mayan beliefs.

The Mayans also had a ball game that was a very big deal to them, religiously and competitively. Although the Mayans would sacrifice the losing team, we still see similar sports today. Like soccer and basketball, their sport was very entertaining. The sport was like soccer because you couldn't use your hands. It was like basketball, because you had to get a ball through a hoop. Once one team would do that the game was over.

Like the Mayans we also reflect our culture through art. The Mayans reflected their culture through hieroglyphics, paintings and carvings. We reflect our culture through movies, stories, photography and also paintings, drawings, and sculptures. At the De Young museum there were two cylinders. One had a monkey scribe and another scribe, the other cylinder had sacrificial scene. We can infer from these cylinders that their culture valued writing and sacrifice to please the Gods.

The Mayans have spread a lot of their traditions through out the world.