Chapter 15: Global Commerce

So my Spanish-sounding last name goes back to when the Portuguese entered India?!

The Portuguese devised a plan to travel East into Asia to become somewhat leaders of global commerce: to discover and obtain the most goods and riches before any other European. The Portuguese attempt was done with the use of violence. The text states that a fair trade was not possible because of the lack of valuables they had: “…European trade goods were crude and unattractive in Asian markets.” Without their strong military, the Portuguese would have gotten nowhere.

They bombarded a few cities in Southeast Asia that were accessible. Soon, they claimed leaders of commerce in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India. However, this didn’t last long and it came to the point where the Portuguese were not able to sell their goods.

I think it was a little karma. At some point, they were somewhat leaders of Asian commerce. However, they got there with violence. “…by burning and sacking the city, killing some 1,500 people, and seizing large quantities of cotton and silk textiles, and carpets. Because they did some wrong, they paid for it by not being able to get far in their trading post empire.

In order to compete with Portugal, Spain traveled to the Philippine Islands where they soon established colonial rule, introduced Christianity, taxes, and tribute. The establishment of Spain in the Philippines was a success and soon, the Philippines became a bowl of diversity attracting Chinese and Japanese traders, artisans, and sailors. Spain invading the Philippine Islands contributes to the reasoning behind why so many Filipinos have such Spanish-sounding surnames and claim to be some fraction of Spanish descent. It was to compete with Portugal who was at the time advancing in global trade.

Side note: The text says that the “Philippine Islands” was derived from the Spanish King Phillip II. What the original name was for the archipelago before Spain invaded?

Since Portugal basically failed, the Dutch and English tried to replace the Portuguese in Asia. After reading this section, I kind of felt sorry for Portugal. They worked hard to come up with the plan to travel to India and ended up struggling to stay at the top of global commerce. However, it was an opportunity for the Dutch and English. It’s like shopping. You have a hard time deciding whether to buy this certain item of clothing…and there’s only one of these items left. For a split second, you change your mind, put it back on the rack. Then BOOM someone else seizes the opportunity and snatches it so they can purchase the item.

Global Commerce I think was just that. It was all about seizing opportunity and timing: being at the right place at the right time.

Sugar

It is quite difficult to imagine a world without sugar. We would not be able to sweeten our coffee; or, enjoy most confectionaries like cupcakes. Our ice cream would taste bland and & most importantly, teriyaki sauce could not be invented:)

I never noticed how such tiny crystals could have a huge impact on the world. In “Discovering the Global Past” by Merry Wiesener, Chapter 4 traces sugar in its journey of becoming of global importance. Sugar is a hardcore world traveler: it originated in South Asia and made its way to the Caribbean. As for the Europeans, they had yet to encounter this “secret”. I found it kind of funny when the book says, “Sugar was one of the luxury goods…(88)”. When people think of “luxury”, I highly doubt sugar comes to mind. Instead most people dream about owning extravagant mansions, fancy cars, and a massive wardrobe. Or, for some, simplicity is their idea of luxury. Either way, sugar isn’t usually mentioned. In contrast, when the New World was first introduced to sugar, in fact, it was barely available for the rich and royal.

Although sugar has served some goodness in the world, it does not justify the slavery that came with it. Because sugar required extensive labor and mass produced, many countries, including Spain, used African slaves to cultivate and process sugar. They used slaves in order to save their money. They wanted to have great results (great quantities of sugar) and at the same time, use the least amount of money. Slaves are barely, if ever, paid for the intense labor they endure.

John Boudreau Article: "In Vietnam, Teenage Daughters Sold Into Sex Slavery"

It is amazing how the naïve poor are tricked and bribed into sex trafficking. They explore through dumps in the hopeful search for anything that they could use, or possibly eat. Of course, they don’t have much of a choice: most are uneducated and inexperienced. So when people offer jobs poor daughters to “work in a café in a different city”, it is no surprise that the families quickly comply, thinking that they will soon live better lives. Instead, the teenage girls are brought to their doom.

I cannot say that I wouldn’t do the same thing. If I were poor, illiterate, and unaware of the issues of slavery and human trafficking, I would’ve agreed to the “café job”. Truong and her family (and any other victimized families of sex trafficking) are not at fault. Just as Diep Vuong stated, “If you don’t know how to read the public announcements or have enough money for newspapers and you barely have enough to eat, how can you understand there are risks?”

What is really troublesome is the fact that some families are not even tricked. They willingly accept money for their daughters to be a victim of sex trafficking. The people that offer the families thousands of dollars in a trade for their daughter’s body are low; but I think the families that agree to the trade are even lower. No human being should be bought, sold, traded, or anything of the sort, especially family members.

There were about 6,700 victims of sex trafficking in Vietnam last year. What’s even worse is that the actual statistics maybe even higher. Though the Vietnam government have no resources to put a stop to sex trafficking, it is good to hear that some Vietnamese authorities, like the police, as the article states, are providing some help. It may not be much, but it is definitely a start.

The girls were lucky to have escaped, unlike the reported 6,700+ victims last year. However, Truong’s comments at the end of the article confused me. It kind of seemed like Truong doesn’t know how lucky she is: “If it had happened, it would have been because it was my destiny. That’s the life.” It is no one’s fate to be sold and trafficked into sex slavery.