Chapter 14 - Part 1

This reading was interesting to me.  I like to think that I like progress and forward movement, but I read this chapter and all I can about is, think what are these people thinking?  How could something so simple, like the Indian Ocean Spice Trade, inspire so much need for progression, yet cause havoc amongst the groups involved.  For instance, the Portuguese, who decided to come from behind everyone else who was established in this trade and create these smaller trading posts and charging those who came through those.  The Portuguese King thought of himself as the "Lord of conquest, navigation, and commerce...", which to me meant that he was proud of offering nothing to this trade, but being a bully and charging those bringing something to the trade.

Conquest is something else that continues to stand out to me.  When I think of conquest, I think that this happened only in history, but there are times currently where conquest is still happening; for instance, in 2014, Russia took over Crimea without resistance from Ukraine.  This is what came to mind when I read about the Dutch and English displacing the Portuguese.  This was possible because both countries were economically smarter and had stronger militaries.  Their take over was also smarter in a way; they privatized their trading companies, raised money, and shared their risk with all their merchant investors. They seemed to be much smarter in how they conducted their business, but that was not without any blood being shed.