lesson – Page 5 – open ended social studies

March 13, 2017: Hemingway’s Havana

March 22, 2017December 10, 2017 Editor

This morning, my mission was clear. Find passage for tomorrow to Vinales, by reputation the most beautiful countryside in all of Cuba. The state-owned bus company was no help – the only bus there being full and sold out online weeks ago. Thankfully, the lady behind the counter at Infotur, the state-owned tourism office was able to work a little private sector magic and get me set up in a shared taxi for just five dollars more than the price of the sold out bus. And apparently I owed her nothing more for this service than a sonrisas grande e un muchas gracias. Continue reading “March 13, 2017: Hemingway’s Havana” →

Globalization is nothing new – the indigenous peoples slaving away in the Potosi mines 500 years ago could tell you all about it, while Europeans cracked the whip in order to buy Asian-made goods at affordable prices. Add in the fact that the mines were supplied with food and coca by African slaves laboring away in the low lands, and you have a template for the modern integrated global economy – exploitation, unequal rewards, and all. Continue reading “Who made your smartphone? Globalization, raw materials, and slave labor from Potosi to Silicon Valley” →