College of Arts and Sciences Education

BA Political Science Program

Virgelyn C. Mones
POS223 (8977)
Prof. Alger Dura

1. Expound the historical and political significance of the Mongolian Empire. Does the
empire reach its height of achieving its objectives? What were the effects of Genghis Khan
and his horde of Mongol followers’ conquests? Did it have positive or negative impacts?

“With Heaven’s aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve
the conquest of the world. That task is left for you.”-Genghis Khan

There were many great rulers of the old world. On their rise to power, Alexander the Great,
Hannibal and even Julius Caesar met with difficulty. And among them is Genghis Khan, who
signifies over all these leaders as greatest conquerors in history. He governed over more territory
throughout his reign than any other leader in history, a territory twice as big of the Roman Empire.
Therefore, it is worth exploring such topics as; Genghis leadership, consequences of the
conquests of his horde of Mongol adherents, and their positive or negative impacts.

The Mongol Empire, the greatest contiguous land empire in existence, started to emerge
during the High Middle Ages in Europe. In the Central Asian steppes, the Mongol Empire started
and lasted during the 13th and 14th centuries. All of modern-day Mongolia, China, portions of
Burma, Romania, Pakistan, Siberia, Ukraine, Belarus, Cilicia, Anatolia, Georgia, Armenia, Persia,
Iraq, Central Asia, and most or all of Russia is included to their fullest degree. Several more
nations were tributary states of the Mongol Empire. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, who
was crowned emperor of all the Mongols in 1206, the kingdom reunited the nomadic Mongol and
Turkic tribes of ancient Mongolia. Through his reign and then under his successors, who sent
invasions in every direction, the empire expanded rapidly. The vast intercontinental empire linked
the east with the west with an imposed Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace, enabling Eurasia to
expand and exchange commerce, technology, resources, and philosophies.

Over the next century, the incursions and conquests of the Mongols continued till 1300,
when the massive empire occupied most of Asia and Eastern Europe. The Mongol attacks and
uprisings are known by historians as some of the strongest and most frightening battles in human
history. In an unparalleled scale, the Mongols spread fear ahead of them and caused population
relocation.

Initially, he was identified as Temujin until Genghis Khan became the emperor of Mongolia.
He was born around 1162 into a nomadic tribe with noble connections and strong treaties in
modern-day northern Mongolia. By alliances, these lucky situations enabled him unite hundreds of
tribes in his adulthood. He married his young wife, Borte, in his early 20s, a bride from another
influential tribe. Eventually, boiling tensions exploded and a rival tribe captured her. By political
manipulation and military might during this period, and likely prompted by the capture of his queen,
Temujin unified the nomadic, formerly ever-rivaling Mongol tribes under his control, and also
recovered his bride from the rebellious tribe. He forbade the plunder of his opponents without
permission when Temujin took power, and he introduced a strategy of distributing spoils with his
warriors and their families rather than handing it to the aristocrats. Compared to his rival brother,
Jamukha, who also hoped to reign over larger swaths of Mongolian territory, his meritocratic
policies appeared to attract a wider base of supporters. This division in policies caused tension
with his uncles and brothers, who, as well as his generals, were also rightful heirs to the Mongol
succession.

War ensued, and Temujin prevailed, destroying all the remaining rival tribes from 1203–
1205 and bringing them under his sway. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the leader of the Great
Mongol Nation. It was then that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan, meaning universal leader,
marking the start of the Mongol Empire. The first great khan was able to grasp power over such
varied populations through bloody siege warfare and elaborate spy systems, which allowed him to
better understand his enemy. He also utilized a lenient policy toward religious and local traditions,
which convinced many people to follow his lead with promises of amnesty and neutrality.

As a leader over a large network of tribal communities, as he strengthened his possessions,

Genghis Khan developed the way he governed and garnered power. These unprecedented
advances facilitated a comparatively prosperous reign and helped to create more secure trade
routes and alliances, labeling his rule as one of the era's most influential political institutions. He
also carried technology, language, and products further west, effectively.  The following are   his
major successes:

 Organizing his army by splitting it into 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 decimal subsections, and
discarding the lineage-based, tribal bands that once dominated warfare.
 Pioneering the Imperial Guard and honoring loyalty, regardless of the individual's class, with
prominent offices as heads of military units and households.

 Declaring, among many other items, a new rule of the kingdom, called the Yassa, which
prohibited the stealing of land, combat among the people, and hunting animals during the
breeding season. Forbidding the selling of women. He also encouraged women to discuss
major, public decisions. Unlike other leaders in the region, Genghis allowed his wives to sit at
the table with him and encouraged them to voice their opinions.

 Mandating religious rights and that would exclude from taxes the poor and clergy. Muslims,
Buddhists, and Christians from Manchuria, North China, India, and Persia were more likely to
capitulate to inferences and takeovers by the Mongols just because of that.

 Enlightening literacy and introducing the Uyghur script that would form Genghis Khan
introduced to Mongolia the writing style that many Mongolians now use. The Mongol Empire
saved tax teachers and contributed to the wide spread of printing in East Asia. They have
contributed to the growth in Korea of an educated elite.

 Via a wide chunk of Eurasia called the Yam (route), whose productivity was not matched for
the next five centuries, the Mongols established a magnificent international postal system.

 Centuries before Europe developed its own, they began making uniform bank notes and paper
currencies.

 There was a great "free trade area" under the Mongols that linked much of the known world.
Without thinking about raids, commerce flourished as traders moved. The economy has
thrived. It was during this time that Marco Polo and other Europeans were able to visit Asia.

 In the Mongol period, as the Khans realized the importance of technology, Chinese science,
astronomy, medicine, engineering, and mathematics erupted. Guo Shoujing and Zhu Shijie
are some of the great scientists of this period. A highly detailed calendar was also developed
by the Mongols.

 In the Yuan period of China, art and theater flourished. In China, they also launched a number
of European innovations in glass and musical instruments.

 Mongolians had a constant desire for awareness and were very fast learners. They share
everything they learn from other cultures, too. An eruption of concepts was triggered by this.
Within a century of contact with the Mongols, Europe rose to its era of discovery.
 Like all great empires of the world, they had a lot of blood in their hands. Despite his many
successful political and social changes, Genghis was also a destructive and intimidating leader.
He initially forged the Mongol Empire in Central Asia with the unification of the Mongol and Turkic
confederations on the Mongolian plateau in 1206. Then Mongol forces invaded westward into
Central Asia including: Western Xia Dynasty in 1209, Kara-Khitan Khanate in 1218 and the
Khwarazmian Empire in 1221. Such conquests severely depopulated vast parts of central Asia
and northeastern Iran, complicating Genghis Khan's reputation as a religiously tolerant benevolent
monarch. Every town or city immune to the Mongols was subject to devastation. Each soldier was
forced to kill a certain number of citizens who did not comply in the cities. After the conquest of the
city of Urgench, for instance, every Mongol warrior was forced to execute 24 people in an army
that would have composed of 20,000 soldiers. The forces of the Mongol Empire had swept
through the Asian steppes and outward by 1260. In the fall of ancient and influential kingdoms in
the Middle East, Egypt, and Poland, the dark side of Genghis Khan's reign can be seen. The
Mongol attacks on China substituted the Sung Dynasty with the Yuan Dynasty over the same time.
The great Khan was perceived by many local people in what is now India, Pakistan, and Iran to be
a blood-thirsty warlord set for devastation.

As an analogy, he possessed the ideals of Machiavelli- conniving, greedy and ruthless-in

terms of his leadership continuum, bringing Khan's approach into the contemporary world. He
eliminated slavery, welcomed religious freedom, unified diverse tribes, despised aristocratic
wealth, meritocratic ran his territories, enjoyed schooling, and advanced women's rights in
Mongolian society, as mentioned above. He was also the finest conqueror and general who ever
lived, ruling a nearly 12 million square miles of self-made empire that existed for almost seven
centuries in parts. Affirmatively, he was violent and war-like, but never for its own sake. In
fighting-only victory, the Mongols considered little honor. Their goal was victory and they did
whatever it took to get it. Then they worked with similar focus on creating unity. So, while most
conquerors died early, brutal deaths, an elderly man surrounded by his beloved family died.

To conclude, it’s evident that the leadership of Khan brought a large impact in world
civilization, from political system, trading, and even in the realm of literature. Even though there
are some bloody war that took place, their contributions to human existence through the explosion
of ideas in different fields have shaped our history. Many countries today remembered and
glorified his contributions to human civilization. His efforts are unparalleled and was a more
dignified and efficient leader than he is believed to be.
 Genghis Khan died on August 18, 1227, and was buried in a secret location in Mongolia.
Genghis Khan built a vast empire and the most powerful empire ever to exist by rewarding talent
and loyalty, and punishing those who opposed him. Upon his death, Genghis’ uncle, Kublai Khan,
took over the empire and founded the Yuan dynasty in the Chinese style. The Mongolian rule gave
Asia relative stability, leaving China free to international tourists, such as Marco Polo.

2. Among the three (3) economic theories (communism, socialism, and capitalism), which
among them do you prefer? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of it. If your answer
is communism or socialism, would you recommend the said economic theory in the
Philippines? If your answer is capitalism, present a measure to improve our economy. (25
points) 

“The great virtue of a free-market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not
care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is
the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with
one another and help one another.”- Milton Friedman

In our daily lives, economics plays a part. Studying economics helps one to consider, and
relate to communities, states, enterprises and people, historical, future and present models. These
three theories are therefore the most prevalent economic theories that are applied between
nations: communism, socialism and capitalism.

The word capitalist, in general use, means an economic structure in which all or most of
the means of production are privately owned and controlled, and capital expenditure and the
production, sale and prices of commodities (goods and services) are largely regulated by the free
market rather than by the state. The methods of production in capitalism are normally run for profit.
There will be no public schools in a strictly capitalist economy, no state run or managed highways
and bridges, public works, healthcare, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, social
security services, etc. Socialism, on the other hand, applies more commonly to state ownership of
collective land, or state ownership of the means of production. That in which the state controls and
manages the means of production will be a solely socialist state. Finally, more commonly,
communism applies to land ownership of the nation, with the main aim being total social equality
by economic freedom. Communism is commonly seen as an idealized Utopian economic and
social state by communist countries that the world as a whole is working for; that is to say that true
communism is the concept that the People's Republic of China was working towards.

If I were to choose among the three economic theories, I prefer the principles of capitalism.
The following are the advantages of capitalism;
 Capitalism offers decisions on consumers. Consumers get to pick what they want to eat
under the framework of capitalism. It is through the abundance of options that competition
evolves over the best available products or services in the private sector. This gain leads to
higher creativity rate since the average customer can purchase the best available thing that
they can afford.
 There is more efficiency in the economy. Capitalism focuses on products and services that
are produced on the basis of the volume of market demand for the commodity that occurs.
This value helps a business to reduce prices because it knows what is expected, with a
particular quality and a specific inventory number in mind.
 With capitalism, global prosperity happens. When capitalism is present in the economy,
the GDP rises when creativity contributes to higher production, which also leads to more
purchases. If the life of a customer is easier because of the goods or services they have
bought, so there is an option over time to increase their quality of living.
 A natural bridge to equality is given by the capitalist approach. What is unprecedented in
capitalism is the equitable ability for all members of society to discover their fortune. There is
still a chance to fulfill goals, no matter what the present economic condition is. 
 Capitalism encourages the marketplace rather than the government to regulate prices.
Capitalism sets the emphasis of products and services on consumer preferences instead of
making the government interfering with prices and commodity supply. Demand for the good or
service is the drive for pricing everything in the economy.
 In a real capitalist society, there are opportunities to manage to be compassionate. It
would be wrong to claim that it is completely without humanity, even if there is a job aspect
involved in a culture that incorporates true capitalism. This society's aim is to create new
goods that resolve issues.
 You will convert your skills or abilities into money. As it is the government who authorizes
the strategy, capitalism has a global viewpoint to it, but it still has characteristics of
individualism. When you have a particular skill set that is in high demand, regardless of the
business dynamics that are in place, your wages would inevitably be higher.
 Capitalism is seeking to restrict government investment. Capitalism's aim is to reduce the
amount of legislation that happens in any sector. While there is an understanding that security
and infrastructure are common concerns, the priority of this strategy is the least successful
 amount possible. To guarantee that it is successful, there must still be responsibility for the
money being invested.
 It supports the notion that the economy will be helped by borders. And if our economic
landscape is smaller than ever in history, the focus on national boundaries is still on
capitalism. Because of the impact of their inventory or services, corporations may become
global powerhouses who financially benefit people all over the world. In order to help one's
neighbors, more investment remains in the economy by helping small businesses.
 The equal prices of all are dictated by supply and demand. Capitalism focuses its outlook
on the marketplace's open activity. Which implies that what will decide the price of goods and
services is supply and demand. This benefit also applies to the other investment and
managing money aspects. The price of equities, debt instruments, savings accounts,
derivatives, raw materials and even currencies is propelled by the activities of the consumer
and the response of the company to them.
On the other side of the coin, capitalism also brought disadvantages, the following are the list of it:
 It must be governed to be an efficient method of economics in any way. The concept of
capitalism is that any industry's most dominant company will inevitably win leverage over the
majority of its competition. The highest rate of innovation and development will be carried out
by people with the most capital and energy. That implies that each time expansion
opportunities arise; they influence more of the output cycle.
 Capitalism contributes to inequality. One of capitalism's founding values is that it gives
each person the freedom to transfer their resources on to the next generation. If a small
number of families in any given economy hold a majority of the money, then they will pass it
on to their children over many generations to keep the value in the same group.
 Capitalist economies don't necessarily stick in a growth pattern. When there is a time of
development, it can be thrilling to exist in a culture that relies on capitalism. This recession will
lead to increased rates of unemployment, more individuals on social welfare net services, and
a reduction in wages for manufacturers as the economy determines that it is time to contract.
 This marginalizes all individuals who are unable to achieve high standards of
production. Pure capitalism does not take age, wisdom, practice, or fitness into consideration.
It expects individuals to be competitive in order to be involved in the economy. If you do not
have any talents that are in demand, so there is no room for you technically to exist.
 A capitalist economy rejects negative external effects. In a capitalist economy, profit is the
sole motive. And if in this method, there are higher levels of creativity to remember, it comes to
the downside of all else. In this economic strategy, risk to well-being is widespread and
companies will without any trouble replace one worker with another.
 The capitalist method does not take current prospects into account. What is
characterized as "fair" by capitalism is not the same as other market economies. Although
 everybody has the same initial potential to achieve, there are many variables at play that can
restrict how much improvement is feasible.
 Capitalism bails the corporation out, but not the customer. If a business in community
becomes too powerful, then its loss could bring everybody else along with it. 
 As more capitalist patterns surface, incomes creep lower. Capitalist idealism forces
individuals to align the importance of their productivity with the total salaries they need to live.
As most roles include someone who is likely to work for less than a current employee, this
drawback induces economic loss over time.
 More segregation may be generated by capitalism. People prefer to stick to neighborhoods
where almost the same amount of money is earned by each. If you were rich, maybe you
wouldn't get an apartment in an inner-city project on a volunteer basis. Middle-class families
do not afford the lavish neighborhood mansions.
Elsewhere, scholars believe that in order to achieve and sustain a stable and sufficient
economy, it is better to both utilize the capitalism and socialism. Also, the most 'capitalist
economies' have a degree of government interference, such as housing, transportation, welfare
and pensions funded by the state. Historically, those that have adopted capitalism, such as the
United States, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, to name a few, have become the nations who
have experienced the largest amount of economic prosperity over the years and decades. There is
a combination of socialism in the welfare policies of these countries, such as Social Security and
Medicare. Moreover, China and other South-East Asian countries have become more capitalist
and free-market, and their economies have expanded, leading to an increase in living standards
and a decrease in poverty levels.
Correspondingly, Philippines utilizes the two economic theories; capitalism and socialism. But
as what I asserted; this article highlights the principles of capitalism. Thus, there are measures in
order to improve the economy of the Philippines. People can only spend as much as they can
afford to pay back, in order to boost capitalism. For different individuals within a country, the
amount is different. Therefore, as much as possible, this motto should be emphasized so that any
borrower can put a cap on how much to borrow. In a capitalist economy, if borrowing gets out of
control, there are negative effects, such as economic decline. The government also has to step in
to rescue the case and stop this outcome where private debt gets too much that borrowers cannot
afford to pay it back. A collateral measure is a tool which can be used to avoid too much debt. It is
determined by dividing the gross assets by a firm's or an individual's total equity. A positive
outcome implies that borrowing is healthy, while a negative one indicates the contrary.
In addition, in fostering the welfare of a capitalist society, collaboration will go a long way. This
partnership may be between people, organizations, corporations and political parties. Cooperation
will be established by promoting ideals like altruism, kindness, cooperation and solidarity. These
principles should therefore be valued and maintained by the institutions of government and
finance. This will protect capitalism's structure and the economy's health. Also, there are
individuals who earn a lot in a capitalist society and others who earn nothing. In most instances,
the taxing system is structured to pay less taxes to high income earners than to low-income
earners. As a consequence, the high-income earners have more savings and development capital
leftover, whereas the lower income people have little too little to invest in. Therefore, the taxation
system should be changed to boost capitalism and ensure that low-income households pay less
tax and ultimately have money to buy and invest.
While as private corporations are some of the largest actors in capitalism. Their actions hold
the wheel of capitalism spinning. The markets for shares, equity, equities, commodities and
derivatives are some of the main industries. This is how huge amounts of money are shifted per
day. Their practices, thus, have an immense influence on the health of the capitalist society in a
world. Players in this field have been left unregulated in the past, and their risky enrichment
activity has triggered a global economic slump. Therefore, by constantly controlling and regulating
the actions of these people, capitalism can be strengthened. Their personal compensation can be
proportional to the level of risk they are engaged in while doing business on a regular basis. In
order to ensure that they remain liable for selling, this fee will be put in an escrow account in order
to collect their paycheck at the end of the month.
In the realm of exploitation, if the land is being utilized and not rehabilitated by capitalism, this
land will become inaccessible for other commercial activities, such as agriculture and
agribusiness. In a nation, this prevents capitalism from achieving its full potential. Therefore, when
preparing their corporate operations, these businesses must include the cost of recovery. They
must also be checked to make sure that once they stop exploiting a specific area, they actually
conduct land restoration. This will protect the land for agribusiness which will therefore have a
positive effect on the environment and capitalism.
In other corner, many people in a country can read and write quite easily. They are not,
however, able to do the financial equations that impact their lives directly. For starters, most
individuals can easily measure the sums necessary to buy anything at a bargain sale, but cannot
measure the average interest rate on the loans they have drawn out on their homes. This is
because current standards of financial literacy are inadequate in many nations. If a nation's people
do not grasp how the financial markets and goods operate, so they are bound to make errors that
damage the overall capitalist economy and structure. Therefore, one of the ways to improve
capitalism is to promote financial literacy among the masses.
With all these efforts or ways of improving our economy, the big role nailed under the
government. As they governed the country and oversee all the political, economic and social
activities, they possessed the power on how to regulate and control everything. Thus, their
fundamental roles are to reinforce all the business-related laws and establish seminars among
local investors and consumers as well about how our economy works because, this one promotes
financial literary. By making all the economic objectives put into action and executing all the
ordinances, there’s no doubt that we can easily lift up the economy, develop more inventions,
produce more products and of course making lives of each prosperous. We can invite more
investors to introduce innovations for us to enhance ours, and as a vice versa process. Initially, to
transit into a pure capitalist state it somehow quite hard especially there’s a large number of low-
income family, however, in a gradual process and time will come that people will urge their self to
work hard, be creative, and well-knowledgeable on how to handle business because it’s their
resort to compete in the society and to feel equal with the other capitalist. Nonetheless, people are
the main driver of economic growth. Therefore, when their needs and wants are catered to, the
economy will benefit and the capitalist system will remain in balance.
To sum up, like with other theories, capitalism also possesses both advantage and
disadvantage in the reality. In its implementation, all counts, varying in the social and political
sense, and the representatives and subordinates. Capitalism has stood the test of time as a form
of social and economic government. Nation states such as the Philippines have experienced
stability and non-prosperity by embracing it. It can still be strengthened, much like every other
framework. In carrying out this change, the tips above are useful. They will allow the people of a
capitalist country to realize what to do to strengthen their capitalist structure and, by extension,
their economies.
“The ideology of capitalism makes us all into connoisseurs of liberty of the indefinite expansion of
possibility.”-Susan Sontag