Living in the Belly of an Empire

Module 4: Living in the Belly of an Empire

1–When we think of empires making war against their neighbors, we can distinguish between symmetrical wars between 2 empires of roughly equal size, and asymmetrical wars between a great empire and a smaller state. Which wars (or possible wars) would Graham Alison call symmetrical?

Group of answer choices

1. China vs. US
2. US vs Iraq
3. Persia vs. Greece
4. Athens vs. Sparta

2–When Xerxes’s army crosses the Hellespont, a story circulates that a horse has given birth to a rabbit. How does Herodotus interpret this event?

Group of answer choices

1. Xerxes is a miracle-worker. He can do anything.
2. The well-equipped Persian cavalryman should ride a camel rather than a horse.
3. Xerxes will set off on his expedition walking tall and proud but when he comes back he will be running for his life.
4. Nothing to see here; no serious commander should take the rumors of his soldiers seriously.

3–According to Thucydides, why do the Lacedaemonians vote for war against Athens (Lacedaemonia refers to the region of Greece in which the city of Sparta was located)?

Group of answer choices

1. Athens is waging a siege against Potidaea.
2. Athens is holding Corcyra by force
3. Athenians fail to explain themselves well at the Congress of the Peloponnesian Confederacy.
4. Lacedaemonians fear the growth of power of the Athenians.

4–Graham Alison tells us that, since 1500, there have been 16 cases of 2 superpowers colliding. What else does Alison tell us?

Group of answer choices

1. In 12 out of 16 cases, war was averted.
2. In 4 out of 16 cases, war was averted.
3. It is likely that China and the US will go to war.
4. It is inevitable that China and the US will go to war.
5. It is unlikely that China and the US will go to war.

5—The US has many reasons to fear China. Which of the following is mentioned by Alison?

Group of answer choices

1. Chinese economy is overtaking the US economy as the greatest economy in the world

.b. Under Xi Jinping, the era of “hide and bide” is over.

1. In a recent Pew poll, more people around the world trust Xi Jinping than Donald Trump.

Module 5: Living in a Capitalist World

6—Marx believes that human history has moved through stages to arrive at the capitalist era. Which of the following correctly reflects Marx’s ideas as expressed in The Communist Manifesto?

Group of answer choices

1. The capitalist world grew out of and replaced the feudal era
2. First came the caveman; next came caveman capitalism.
3. Serfs became burghers; burghers became bourgeoisie.
4. Bourgeoisie over time converted little workshops into great factories.

7—The discovery of America, Marx tells us, played a critical role in the rise of the bourgeoisie. Which of the following correctly reflects Marx’s ideas regarding the importance of the discovery of America?

Group of answer choices

1. The market for manufactured goods grew into a world market.
2. The capability of the bourgeoisie to produce new goods and services made this class indispensable to European monarchs as a means of minimizing the importance of the old aristocracy.
3. The bourgeoisie dispensed with the powdered wigs and silk breeches of the old aristocracy in favor of long pants, top hats, and neatly trimmed beards.
4. The bourgeoisie became so powerful that all of the professional people who used to be respected (doctors, advocates, ministers, etc.) became mere laborers on behalf of the bourgeois world order.

8—Meanwhile, says Marx, the proletariat was growing larger and more powerful. Which of the following reflects Marx’s understanding of the proletariat?

Group of answer choices

1. The proletariat was the modern working class.
2. The factory of Marx’s day (mid-19th century) had many machines and many work-stations. The proletariat were like privates in an industrial army.
3. As industry became more modern, there was a greater and greater need for workers and the workers became concentrated in larger and larger factories.
4. To some degree, the workers were in competition with one another for jobs. But they were managing to form associations and unions.
5. The proletariat’s unions achieved their greatest victories, not in winning better working conditions, but in gaining a sense of common purpose.

9—Module 5 includes a VoiceThread entitled, “Communist Manifesto: Strengths and Weaknesses.” This is a commentary prepared by your teacher 170 years after Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto. Which of the following reflects the opinions in the VoiceThread regarding revolutions which occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries?

Group of answer choices

1. The Paris Commune of 1870-1871 did not reflect a mass uprising of the proletariat so much as a revolt made possible by the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War.
2. The Russian Revolution of 1917 did not reflect a mass uprising of the proletariat so much as coup by a small revolutionary cadre made possible by Russian military losses to Germany in World War I.
3. The Chinese Revolution of 1948-1952 did not reflect a mass uprising of the proletariat so much as a civil war made possible by, among other things, the Japanese invasion of China.
4. None of the revolutions discussed in the VoiceThread follow the pattern predicted by Marx.

10—Here is some information about Standard Motor Products which Davidson describes in 2012.  Which of these facts about SMP in 2012 are consistent with Marx’s comments about capitalism, written in 1848?

Group of answer choices

1. SMP’s headquarters in Queens has a “green roof” of which the boss, Larry Sills, is very proud.
2. SMP no longer owns the building in Queens. Larry sold it in the Great Recession of 2008.
3. SMP no longer manufactures any of its products in Queens.
4. Managers at SMP continuously ask themselves about the products they sell: should we be manufacturing this product in South Carolina, in Mexico, in Poland, or should we be buying it from a manufacturer in China?
5. SMP was founded 100 years ago to manufacture after-market auto parts. The company is still in business, still manufacturing after-market auto parts.