Civilization: Is the West History?
Niall Ferguson asks why it was that Western civilization, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century, came to dominate the rest of the world; and if the West is about to be overtaken by the rest.
Ferguson reveals the killer apps of the West's success - competition, science, the property owning democracy, modern medicine, the consumer society and the Protestant work ethic - the real explanation of how, for five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion's share of the earth's resources.
1. Competition. The first programme in the series begins in 1420 when Ming China had a credible claim to be the most advanced civilization in the world: 'All Under Heaven'. England on the eve of the Wars of the Roses would have seemed quite primitive by contrast.
2. Science. In 1683 the Ottoman army laid siege to Vienna, the capital of Europe's most powerful empire. Domination of West by East was an alarmingly plausible scenario. But Islam was defeated: not so much by firepower as by science.
3. Property. Professor Ferguson asks why North America succeeded while South America for so many centuries lagged behind. The two had much in common (not least the subjugation of indigenous peoples and the use of slavery by European immigrants), but they differed profoundly on individual property rights, the rule of law and representative government.
4. Medicine. The French Empire consciously set out to civilize West Africa by improving public health as well as building a modern infrastructure. Yet in other European empires - notably Germany's in southwest Africa - colonial rule led to genocide. What was the link from medical science to racial pseudo-science?
5. Consumerism. Today the world is becoming more homogenous and, with increasingly few exceptions, big-name brands dominate main streets, high streets and shopping malls all over the globe.
6. Work. The sixth element that enabled the West to dominate the rest was the work ethic. Max Weber famously linked it to Protestantism, but the reality is that any culture, regardless of religion, is capable of embracing the spirit of capitalism by working hard, saving, and accumulating capital.
The communist will hate this documentary. It tells the truth.
Simply put: more of the same pro-establishment, liberal, anti-white propaganda that we've become accustomed to today. The author positively creams his pants at the idea that in just a few decades white people will be in a minority in the United States; welcoming the idea of a unified North and South American civilization as a way to make up for their "original sin": owning black African slaves. Heaps of white guilt are piled on people who had nothing to do with slavery, while ignoring the fact that it was these same people who ended the slave trade (which Europeans didn't begin and engaged in for less time than any other group of people!) while playing lip service the very real benefits that western civilization and technology have brought to Arfica(ns) (hint, we only irradicated disease in Arfica because it benefitted us ;-)). Plenty of obligatory references to the Evil Nazi's etc. I wasn't looking for yet another documentary confirming the incomparable evil of white people but here we are. Must watch if you need more proof that the state-funded globalist media hates whiteness! #ItsOkayToBeWhite
I hate that the kids of obvious African descent are not told of their ancestors vast contributions to European "exploration". The African universities in Timbuktu are the sole reason for the European renaissance in the first place, some of the education shared; astronomy, nautical navigation, the lost math from the Greek civilization. I hope we can all see the problem that this has caused in Black communities around the world.
I like how he interprets "competition" or rather misinterprets, really. His so called "competition" is born out of hating each others. The Europeans hated each others, then it leads to smaller "autonomy" kingdoms or broken into pieces (Martin Jacques compared it to the fallen Roman Empire vs Unified China), only then the "competition" comes around, and lots of exploitation in Africa (which Niall Ferguson hardly mention of), and Zhang He didn't even think of it. In short, "competition" = brutality and brutality rules. CCP must learn this. Isn't that what the elites across the world subscribed to? Isn't that what the Zionist Murica been doing in mid east?
It's funny to say that the history of the world is only western. There is no West without the East. From Science to Agriculture, Architecture to Fashion, Who were the first ones to wear PANTS? Asians and The Middle East to ride horses. THE WEST OWES EVERYTHING TO THE EAST. FROM STEEL TO MEDICINE. Who were the first ones to use Amapola ( Morphine) as medicine? AFROASIATIC CULTURES. R.I.P. WESTERN CIVILIZATION. 500 YEARS OF RACIST SCHIZOPHRENIC DOMINATION.
I was excited to watch this, but 5 minutes in I realize this is just bs British racist propaganda.
These are the real reasons why west dominated:
Savagery/Chattel Slavery (worst type of slavery the world has ever seen, dehumanizing people and treating them worse than animals)
Completely manipulating and converting/brainwashing the rest of the world at gun point
Genocide of natives through disease and murders
Conquest of trade and economy of countries through corruption and military attacks of countries (Dutch East company just 1 example)
Exploiting other countries(relates to the ones above. Still happening today through manipulative tactics like transfer pricing and corruption of military leaders in africa and south america, dont even care about people suffering from asthma due to the pollution of the mines and undrinkable GREEN WATER in villages)
Its spiteful when he said "work ethic". Thats when I realized this is racist propaganda. Are you saying the average brit who drinks his way to death at the pub works harder than a chinese or japanese?
South Koreans have a saying: You are lazy like a Japanese". And think about how hard Japanese people work?.....
This documentary is BS.
I wish we all understood the full scope of human evolution from 100,000 years ago till now. Including how dark skinned Africans turned white in Europe (albinism), where the first civilization ever was created (East Africa, in current Sudan), how we evolved from hunter/gatherers to capitalist citizens (theft, landgrab, a thirst for empire building and misuse of religions) and why most wealthy people on earth are white and most poor people are black and brown (murder, manipulation, genocides, rapes etc). Truth is if you are part of the dominant culture/group of people on earth you are a heir of an accumulation of atrocities that haven't been addressed let alone avenged by its victims.
realy bad documentory. twisting, lying, revisionist. pretty disgusting to watch when you are a scolar of history and see trough the pits and holes of the western hemisphere
I have a different point of view.
I don't think it's the work ethic that matters. There are so many poor countries in the world even though they work hard. The Netherlands, which is one of the wealthiest, has the shortest working hours.
I think what really matters is efficiency. How well a just society it is. How fair the law system is. How less corrupted the entire law system, government is..
When there is a good, fair system maintained, the society should prosper nomatter what.
That's my theory.
Most of Western Civilization was developed in Ancient Egypt, Phoenicians, Persia, and Mesopotamia (by Non-Westerners) and transferred to Ancient Greece and Rome. Work ethic is not a Western characteristics, it has been part of Asia for thousands of years. I also believe imperialism played an important role in developing Western Europe and America, though the documentary seems to leave that aspect out.
First SUPERPOWER in the world history is China.The oldest culture is the indians , and chinese.The most tech nation is Japanese.Now where will be a Europe and the "west civilization" whitout the east ???
not anymore bitches die like the rest. hahahaha its time to reap the evil people. the seven horses have been released
The west is the best.
I really enjoyed watching this documentary even though as an Atheist I was quite annoyed by one of his killer apps. The so called Protestant work ethic does exist but it is hardly protestant at all. A hard work ethic can be found anywhere on earth from a fisherman in Indonesia to a CEO in New York regardless of their faith or lack there of. The main reason why the USA has become the worlds most powerful country is in fact because of its citizens work ethic and vast resources. Our economy is great because of the diversity of its populace and the contributions made by Jews, Catholics, Protestants and people of other faiths and those who don't have a belief system.
I found this documentary series interesting, but there is a fair bit of information that contradicts many of the main theses that I wish Niall would address.
Firstly, most 3rd world countries have people working far longer hours for far less return. Even in India and China people put in longer hours for less return. It is not the protestant work ethic that is valuable here. It is not working harder, it is working smarter, mini-maxing, finding ways to have your cake and eat it. This produces the leisure time that allows people to come up with better ideas. Proof of this is to be found in comparing societies where labor driven economies grind humans down, as opposed to those where "mechanical contrivances" perform most of the work, i.e. capital economies.
Next. What drove the creation of mechanical capital in Europe ? This is where Christian superstition comes into play, specifically the belief in the holiness of filthiness, and that cats were the servants of the devil and must be killed. Diseases in Europe killed people in frighteningly large numbers periodically, but especially the Black Death. By driving up the price of labor, investment in inventing ans employing labor saving devices became important. This rather flies in the face of the Science and Medicine apps too. It was more about blind luck, like when the Mongols had 2 successive waves of European invasion halt due to deaths at the top.
Competition is an interesting idea, but is it a valid assessment of the failure of the Treasure fleets ? If this were true, then all small Balkanized communities would be the most competitive, with the most to gain from commerce. Now there have been examples of this being true, but there are many more examples of it being false. For every Netherlands or Portugal, there is a Sri Lanka, a Latvia, a Denmark, a Bulgaria, and Albania. What drove Europeans to Asia in search of spice was poverty, what kept them there was the greed and violence. It was less competition, and more a combination of Government policy and the economic model of the Mercenary Company (and it's violent mercenary ethos) from which all forms of legal companies ultimately derive.
I have few issues with the episode on Property, though once again I think that this is more about government policy, the failure of the aristocratic system due to nepotism and corruption, and the revolution of the masses against aristocracy, that won in the USA and failed in South America. I would have said it was about Nepotism versus Meritocracy, and that is a choice about how to run a Government bureaucracy.
As to science. Choosing the Ottomans as a counterpoint doesn't necessarily explain everything. China had led the world for a very long time in technical matters, and the Treasure fleets prove this. What we should really be asking is why China, the powerhouse of world technical innovation, stalled ? I would argue that it was the cost associated with building and maintaining the Great Wall that cut the R&D budget, and created a sense of isolationist complacency. Once again, this comes down to issues of Government policy.
I therefore attribute Europe's success in part to extreme good fortune, but mainly to flexible and responsive government policies introduced by people who knew what they were doing, or learned from their mistakes.
Everyone thinks that for The West to claim leadership in the exploitation of the worlds resouces and basic destruction of it by greed and mindless industialization is somehow 'self-glorification'. The fact is, The West (with it's Protestant focus on upward mobility and personal ambition) really is the leader in this pillaging of the earth. Why would anyone feel 'left out' in any discussion of who's to be credited for such an evil thing. It's true. It's the saddest thing I can imagine, and it's true.
An embarrassingly one-sided. myopic. self-glorifying portrayal of the West. Worse, a very apparent western-type need to link all the progress of many great cultures throughout many ages to a localised, quasi-religious revisionist theory of the 'importance' of Protestantism on a global scale. Tribal garbage.
The only thing that's 'finished' is the WASP right-wing mentality, as so vividly portrayed in this absolute failure of a 'documentary'. It's pretty much finished everywhere. Whether or not the USA grows up and joins the rest of the world in progressive, balanced and critical awareness of the role of socialism in a free society is entirely up to them. If they don't, they will be the one to lose out.
As for dealing with complexities of historiographies and sources of change, progress and development, this one rates as the low-brow of low-brows.
I agree with Dhananjaya's contention that Mr. Ferguson is incorrect when he concludes that China needs to imbibe a Protestant work ethic in order to succeed in its development. While Britain and North America (excluding Mexico) have been primarily Protestant in their history and can be said to have the Protestant work ethic as a driving force for their development, it is incorrect to say that China's development is due to its absorption of the Protestant work ethic. Chinese people have had their own strong work ethic since ancient times which is driving their current development. It was not because the Chinese people did not have a strong Protestant work ethic that China fell behind in its development. It is through other factors such as the lack of sufficient development in science or the lack of democracy that held China back.
The link doesnt work... :(
Just finished watching the entire series. I had enjoyed Ferguson's 'Empire' and 'Ascent of Money' and expected this to be of the same quality. Man, was i disappointed. I am not a guy who rants for objectivity, but this is nothing but one sided trash. I second 'Nagual's comments fully.
I am from India. I am really upset with the crafty ease with which he conveiniently forgets to mention the numeous atrocities his 'West' commited.
He paints a vivid picture of Germany's attrocities in Africa and how in 1902 many people was killed based on race lines and it was the world's fisrt genocide, before the word was even coined. He forgets that his favoured North American, Protestant ethic filled, property sharing people also committed a genocide when they killed thousands of native indians, just to grab their land.
The Chinese are imbibing work ethic because of the Protestant religion!
Wow, I wonder how Ming dynasty flourished in its prime with all the technology , economy etc in 14th Century? Before protestant religion came into existence.
The entire last episode was full of religious propaganda. I wonder if in few years, he will be Reverend Niall Ferguson instead of Professor Niall Ferguson.
I can't help but notice that all of these comments about the horrible Western world and all of our treachery are being submitted by computers via the internet (created in the west), in countries free to express themselves, likely Western Democracies (or this site would be blocked), all while enjoying life in their air conditioned/heated homes, eating safe and plentiful mass produced food, driving their cars and flying around the world at will. Oh yes, we ruined your lives. Poor you!!
Perhaps you would prefer Chinese rule where anyone not ethnically Chinese is considered an enemy of the state and all points of view contrary to the "Party" line are met with jail time. Or perhaps the tribal warfare and genocide of Africa. Maybe the overly corrupt democracy of India where you can't get police help unless you pay for it.
I'd like to see the world just for a day if any of the other contenders for world domination had won. Islam forced on the entire world and Sharia law. Chinese subjugation of the world and forced slavery on all non Chinese.
Did the West have problems and create new problems? Absolutely!! Could it have have been a whole lot worse? Absolutely!! Now enjoy your modern Western pampered lives and keep bitching about this horrible way of life being imposed on you.
Sources: I have lived in 32 countries throughout my life in every corner of the globe and I wouldn't trade my Western ideology, democracy or heritage for any other.
it seems to me , historically, the Capitalism and Western culture only thrives with the use of cheap and / or slave labour...definitely nothing to do with Protestant religious work ethic....maybe that Religious acceptance or work ethic (if you wish to call it that) is adopted by those who have no choices for any other labour options
You people and your snide comments.
Let me explain something to you...
Occupation, pillaging, slavery and subjugation are simply ways of life. If you don't think that eastern civilizations did their share of conquering and pillaging on their way up then you're living in a dream world.
Guess what?
The elite explorers, rulers, politicians and other "leaders" of society have ALWAYS taken advantage of their citizenry and still do today. It doesn't matter if you're talking about British colonialism, American "capitalism" or Ottoman confiscation... there has always been a small group of wealthy, elitist f*cks that have enslaved their people and forced them to ravage and/or conquer another group of people (who were already enslaved by their own group of rich elites).
When will the people of the world stop arguing over capitalism vs. socialism, west vs. east, U.S.A. vs. the "terrorists", left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, jews vs. the rest of us, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH?? When...
It is... and always has been... the people vs. their rulers. When we, the people, figure that out... then the game will change. Until then, wealthy, immoral, power-mad elites will always rule the world... and always have "the people" under their thumb.
And they will always use DIVISION in order to maintain their rule. To keep us all at odds with one another... so we don't try to blame them when the s.h.t.f..
Why do you think Obama vilifies "the rich" so much... when HE is one of them? So in the end... you won't go after the ruling class... just the business people... like they are doing in Britain right now. Burning down ordinary mom and pop businesses because it's all the fault of "the rich". You should be after the Queen's head instead.
Btw...
Vote for Ron Paul 2012
He doesn't want you to be his slave.
The West beat the rest with guns and disease. Europeans are not superior to any other people in any way. The west is still playing the same game today. Guns and disease. Nothing more.
Europeans were not the first to explore the planet. This is more cultural bullshit cheerleading.