Past and Now

One thing that is obvious is that we live in a changing world. One can see how dramatically our world has changed by just examining what has occurred in this last century of the second millenium. At this link, 1900 vs. Now, there are some graphs which illustrate some of the differences between the world of 1900 and the modern world. If we examine the facts carefully, we might get gain a better understanding of where we've come from--and perhaps even get a sense of where we're headed.

For this assignment, I'd like you to examine the data provided in the charts very closely. (You may choose to focus your analysis either on the United States, the World, or both.) Look for general trends that the various pieces of information seem to point toward. Then, having inferred a generalization that is grounded in the data, write an essay that introduces and supports your idea, using specific examples from the chart.

Be careful not to just rehash a miscellany of facts and figures--seek to establish a major idea that governs much of the data. Although none of the data should directly contradict your thesis, you do not need to use every bit of information provided. Instead, selectively choose evidence that most effectively illustrates the generalization you seek to support. There is no single, correct generalization, but remember the idea you seek to assert is only as strong as the evidence you cite in support of it. I do not expect you to consult any sources beyond the data provided to accomplish this assignment.

As I was looking through this graphs that compares 1900 and today, I could not help but think how far we have come. In just over a hundred years, we have grown and died down. In this essay I want to hit three facts I saw to be very interesting. The population, farmers and number of cars sold.

First off is population, as I was looking at the cart that showed the populations. I noticed how big of a change there is. Of course it's a given that the world would grow and populations would rise but its amazing how big of a growth spurt in just over a hundred years. In the U.S alone it went up from 79 million to 269 million. That is such a crazy jump in just a short time. Same with the world, the worlds population grown from 1.5 billion to around 5 billion. That is amazing to think that we have grown so much as a whole world by that much.

Second is the farmers. This one really struck me because of how much the numbers have gone down. The graph was about how the percentage of farming was in the workforce. In 1900 it was huge in the U.S, about 42% and it was even bigger in Portugal at 65%. Those are huge numbers. But now, its so amazing how the numbers have been crushed. In the U.S only the percentage is down to 3%! Why such a change? Its because how technology is advancing. There wasn't a Costco or Wal-Mart back in 1900, a lot of people farmed their food or milked cows for their own milk.

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