Party With Death

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY

The Dance. More specifically, The School Dance. Or Prom. Fantasy: A place where girls’ dreams come true. Where girls feel like a princess with their Prince Charming. Reality: A party where female students with too much perfume jump around in a crowded place with male students who think they “got swag”. In Social Studies class we had the privilege  to plan The Perfect Dance With The Black Death while using economic ideas.

The Perfect Dance

Planning the dance is not easy as it seems. Especially when you have to use economic concepts while you’re at it.

In class, we divided into three groups. I was with Grace, Marie, and Hiroki. For the music, we chose the DJ, Good Vibrations, the most expensive out of all the choices with $2000. We chose Good Vibrations because we thought that live bands will not appeal to everyone. There was another DJ called Pig Sty, who was cheap with $1000 but good. But Good Vibrations had excellent sound system, so it was worth the extra $1000. For the place, we chose the School Gym, which costs $200, the cheapest. We think that the location is not a priority and the ELAC is a very good place to have a dance. This is because the DJ could use the stands (?) and there is also good ventilation (very important for a dance). For the refreshments and decorations, we chose Catered #2, who had pizza, chicken fingers, salad bar, taco bar, pasta bar, and neat decorations. They cost $3000. In the most expensive choice, the package deal, had a pre-dance meal and we thought that if we had people eat before the dance, they will be too full to dance. And the School Service Club and Catered #1 did not satisfy our needs. Catered #2 had just enough variation and that is why we chose them. We decided that the leftover money ($4435) should be saved for the Prom and the Senior Trip.

After the three presentations, the class took a vote to decide The Perfect Dance. Unfortunately, we did not win 😦 . The winner was Group 3 with the choices of Good Vibration, Catered #2, and the Hilton Hotel. With their leftover money, they decided to donate $2635 to the Touhoku Relief Effort.

The Black Death

In the early 13th century, the Mongol Empire began its powerful invasion of Asia and Eastern Europe that lasted for almost two centuries. Along with the invasion, they brought diseases that were fatal to the invaded countries. A very famous disease was the Black Death. Many Mongolians suffered through this disease but it was not fatal to them. The Black Death was an endemic to the Mongolians. In 1347, when Mongolians invaded China, the local Chinese people contracted the disease and it was horrible. Especially because they had never experienced the Black Death before. There was no cure and after people got the disease, they died from 2 to 4 days. The Black Death became an epidemic. This epidemic soon became a world wide epidemic from 1347 to 1350. Many people who didn’t get sick couldn’t run away fast enough. Some took trade routes towards Europe and some took ships. But running away from an invisible enemy never ends well. Once the ships docked on foreign lands, the local people there did not allow the people (from the ships) to come inside the village. But there are always rats and rats always like to explore. Especially ships. And because rats are not the most hygienic animals on Earth, they usually have fleas attracted to them. After the rats (with the fleas) explore the ships, the fleas carry the germs of the disease. When the rats eventually go back to the village or town, the fleas have already sort of “dropped off” the germs to the people. Now people start getting these painful swellings in the neck, armpits, legs, or groin area that are red at first then black later. They also have a very high fever and they also start vomiting, which are just two of the other painful symptoms of the Black Death. The people who had not yet contracted the disease fled by boat crossing the Caspian Sea and eventually crossed the Black Sea as well. People who docked on unfamiliar lands were forbidden to live with the people there. But the cycle continued with the fleas (on the rats) spreading the disease as they were carriers of the germ. The youngest, the oldest, and the poorest died first. The Black Death flowed towards Western Europe following the trails of the many rivers throughout Europe and ended up in England. This deadly disease killed 33% of the European population. The Black Death world wide epidemic affected everything, everywhere. Europeans started doubting God as they were mainly under the influence of Roman Catholicism. Everything became expensive. The population decrease was very appalling. Many peasants died and this affected the economy in Europe, including England.

The Black Death epidemic was set during the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages (500 A.D.~1500) there were kings who had nobles, nobles that had knights, and knights that had peasants. This social system is called feudalism. Feudalism is a social system that is based on loyalty in exchange of land and/or protection. This system worked because protection was crucial for people who wanted to live. Before the Black Death struck, peasants had limited freedom. Peasants had to give animals, money, and crops to their lords, while they worked for them. Peasants also had to follow their lords’ farming methods and they had no freedom to move. Peasants were bound to the land. Because of this, when someone was born to a family of peasants, they were stuck there until they died. Their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters, and so on were peasants until they died too. After the Black Death epidemic, many peasants had died and lords were in an unfortunate position. Peasants started revolting and although their revolution was suppressed, truly, they had won. Peasants gradually became free to farm land with their method and they were able to move around (they were not bound to the land). Sons and daughters of peasants were free to work in the town or take up a new occupation. Peasants had (actual) choices for their future now. The peasants’ freedom was no longer limited, but lords needed peasants to work on their lands. Because there were fewer peasants than before the epidemic, the lords had no choice but to decrease their number of laws regarding peasants. But now, peasants were scarce. And eventually, feudalism crumbled because protection was no longer necessary.

In class we did an activity where we were “lords” with 15 peasant families. We had to make the best choice in how to allocate our land so that we will get the most profit. As “lord” we had 1000 acres of farmland available. Feeding each peasant and his family requires 30 acres of farmland. Feeding my family and I requires 100 acres. In addition to producing food for the peasants and my family, each peasant can grow food for the market on 30 acres of land, producing £2 of income for me. Or, each peasant can take care of sheep grazing on 150 acres of land, producing £5 worth of wool.

In 1345, before the Black Death, I have 15 peasants and their families living on my estate. I need 550 acres of land to feed my family and the 15 peasant families. 450 acres of land is left for producing wool or food for the market. The problem was how to allocate this 450 acres of land between food production and sheep grazing, so that I could get the most income. To get the most income, as a class it was decided that allocating all the 450 acres of land for food production would be the most beneficial. When 450 is divided by 15 (number of peasant families), the quotient is 30, and this is the total income I would get, £30. We were given an option to accept another peasant family to our estate but this would not be economically worthwhile. This is because there is no more space left on my estate and my total income would be less, because I need 30 acres of land to feed the peasant family.

Now it is 1352 and 5 of my 15 peasant families have succumbed to the Black Death. I am living with my family and 10 other peasant families, so I need 400 acres of land to feed my family and the 10 peasant families. There is 600 acres of land left for producing food or wool for the market. To get the most income, I put 8 families in food production which needs 30 acres. 8 multiplied by 30 is 240 acres. These eight families will get me £16, a part of my total income. I put the other 2 families in sheep grazing and 150 acres is needed for each of the families, so that would take 300 acres of 600 acres of land I have. 240 acres plus 300 acres is only 540 acres, which means that I have 60 acres of land left. So, if a peasant wanted to work at my estate, it would be economically beneficial for me to accept him and his family, because 30 acres would be used for him and his family and the other 30 acres would be used for food production. And with the food production, it would be sold at the market and then my income will increase. Also thinking long term (like an economist), the positive consequence of keeping this 11th peasant would be that, even though I pay him to work for me, for maybe a few years, he will continuously produce food for me and getting paid, which adds to my income.

(Updated after reading Yurika’s comment.)

CONNECTING ECONOMIC CONCEPTS TO WHAT WE DID AND DEFINING THEM

The Perfect Dance

When we were planning the Perfect Dance, for each category (music, place, refreshments/decorations), there were opportunity costs and trade offs. For music, we chose Good Vibrations which made the other DJ, Pig Sty the opportunity cost. For location, we chose the School Gym, specifically the ELAC, which made the reasonably priced special place, the Hilton Hotel become the opportunity cost. For refreshments and decorations, we chose Catered #2, which made the Package Deal the opportunity cost. Our choice for the location, which was the school gym and the cheapest place on the list was the trade off  to have better music, refreshments and decorations.

The Black Death

In the activity where we got to be “lords”, before the Black Death, I had 550 acres to feed my family and all my peasants. I then had 450 acres left for producing food or wool to sell in the market. To get the most income, I had to think about how to allocate my land between food  production and sheep grazing. I decided that using all of the 450 acres of land for food production will be most profitable for me. If I did this, my income would be £30. The consequences after the Black Death epidemic included the scarcity of peasants. After the Black Death, because 5 of my peasant  families died, my incentive was to have an income that was similar to the income before the Black Death. I chose to use 30 acres of land for food production and 150 acres of land for sheep grazing. My total income was £26.

Definitions:

opportunity cost – the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen

trade off – a balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible features; a compromise

incentives – positive or negative motivations that drive one to their goal

income – money received (on a regular basis) for work or through investments

consequence – a result or effect of an economic decision

(Updated after reading Ho Hsuan’s comment.)

CONNECTING TO THE REAL WORLD WHILE EXPLAINING

There is an overwhelming number of books on this planet. There is a huge amount of books that are so popular and/or good that they are made into movies. A nice condensed summary of the (sometimes) few hundred pages made into a 2 hour long motion picture. I think the most famous book-turned-movie is the Harry Potter series. There are certainly many others, but the world knows about Harry Potter. The ages of Harry Potter fans range from young preteens to retiring professors. The books and the movies are just simply fantastic. It seems like thousands maybe even millions of people helped create the eight Harry Potter movies. The person who first produced Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone) is David Heyman. Throughout the production of all the movies, the cost of the movies was the money. The producers gave up A LOT of $$$ to make the film, at least very close to, perfect. The cost is the thing you give up in order to get something else. The cost equals financial plus non-financial (opportunity) cost. The incentive was to show a wider audience this masterpiece created by J.K. Rowling. When David Heyman first looked at Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, he thought it would be stupid, but after reading he couldn’t make it into a movie fast enough. It was a must. And after the movies attracted a big group of fans, the incentive for the movies after the first one was the satisfy the fans’ hunger for Harry Potter. The positive consequences that followed was that the actors, especially Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, became VERY famous and VERY rich. Companies related to the Harry Potter movies and especially J.K. Rowling also benefitted financially. The negative consequences was that because these three actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, acted in almost only the Harry Potter movies, it would be hard for them to get a job in the future that will be successful. Because so many people have seen Radcliffe as Harry, they just simply think of him as Harry and he (in some cases) cannot be any other character in another movie. This goes for Watson and Grint as well. Also, because the world is not filled with people who all have the same opinion, some people were not satisfied with the character portrayal in the movies. I have seen people who very much like the character, Ginny, in the books but they disliked her in the movies. But I can relate to this because all the scenes I can remember that had Ginny in it was…Ginny and Harry kissing (x10000), over and over and over again. Ginny did nothing else but kiss Harry in the movies. But anyways, the Harry Potter books and the movies were a very big success and I really hope there will be other successful books/movies in the future. 😀

Reference:

I commented on Ho Hsuan’s blog post.

I also commented on Yurika’s blog post because I was being nice (haha) and also because no one had commented on her blog post. (…am I allowed to do that, Mrs. Welbes?)