Civilization should not be something only studied by professionals. We as Americans, or any citizen for that matter, we should understand what makes civilization function or at a minimum understand what role it has in developing our own society and culture. The west is in a critical stage of history today as the world economy is moving through a recession and the eastern countries (China, India, Thailand, etc.) are becoming more relevant in the world markets. How we adjust to this stage is critical to the survival of the west.
Niall Ferguson’s book “Civilization: The west and the rest” shows the historical relevance of western culture as a global power and how it has influenced the rest of the world. This book has helped me to think about the world stage a little different than before. There is no doubt that the U.S. and European nations have gone from creditor nations to debtor nations in record time and history has proven that the world tends to favor the creditor nations. This is a fact that doesn’t sit right with some leaders in the U.S. and other western nations but this fact is something we need to have a coming to Jesus moment about or our decline will be extreme. The west has the potential to keep its position on the world stage but only with drastic measures to bring back the motor fueled by a civilization ready to succeed.
Many factors attributed to making the west are diminishing and this book points some of those out with six main factors that helped ascend the west and other nations failed to adopt. They were competition, the scientific revolution, the rule of law and representative government, Modern medicine, the consumer society and the work ethic. These factors made the west what it was and distinguished the west from other nations throughout the past few hundred years. Lately some countries, China mainly, have copied these to now excel to a world power and the west has slowly lost some of the very factors Ferguson points out.
There are some great takeaways from this book. One is that so many politicians and leaders had hurt the east’s ability to compete with the west. The people had a resilience to dominate the world stage but it was hard for them to compete on a closed system based on ideology from both religious and tyrannical. Most Muslim nations still abide by this but have made an effort to influence parts of Europe and the U.S. knowing that western tolerance can be taken advantage of.
The west’s institutions were once the brightest and best in the world but now some of the best schools are rising in the east because of the work effort and dedication to compete with the west. Ferguson shows how east and west Germany had people of the same culture split in two and they soon took the personalities of that state. He points out that they had a “divergence in the way they behaved.” Institutions are a product of culture with clarity and the institutions of the west helped to ascend innovation while the communist countries failed in many ways.
Foreign commerce also had a huge impact on the rise of the west. This is well known but some overlook the fact that China and other eastern nations had closed their borders and thus forced its people to survive on domestic goods and services without the new developed technologies of the west. It was also very difficult for innovation with tyrannical leaders that had no interest in what the west had to offer. That with the advanced institutions showed how fast western nations could grow economically and culturally.
Another observation is that the governments of Europe were divided among many smaller units which made for strict competition and that helped to give rise to expansion. There was competition “not just between states, but also within states” and this helped the west to rule the world. It is a wonder that today’s governments have basically worked together to form a huge union connected economically creating less competition and more dependence on the system. Ferguson does a good job in addressing this fact.
The law created the corporation creating one of the “earliest examples of an autonomous commercial institution.” That and Magna Carta helped to develop a system of laws that gave confidence to the markets and helped form corporations as we know them today. Even though there was corruption and it wasn’t perfect there had never been any law system to date that offered the freedoms provided. Property, Commerce and criminal systems allowed for symmetry the east felt would ruin the west not ascend them.
The consumer society developed and influenced the world and the new money system created exponential growth. America exemplified this with new and exciting goods developed and marketed in innovative ways. Ferguson did a great job of showing how dress really helped to spread the western culture to the point where eastern countries like Japan and China were forced to copy in order to be relevant. Even though American goods are everywhere it is often overlooked how this impacted other civilizations and gave rise to the west’s stamp on the world scene.
This was done through the Capitalist system and helped give rise to the west even if many then and today frown on this influence. He gives a good example of the radicals of the sixties on college campuses claiming to hate capitalism but were wearing the cloths and driving the vehicles that made their culture stand out. Some of these people influenced the very leaders running our country today and over the past years. Other nations are taking advantage of our politically correct leaders and the culture we are turning into.
One of the most important aspects of America today is the fact that our young are not being educated enough and do not understand history let alone math and science. “Maybe the ultimate threat to the West comes not from radical Islamism…but from our own lack of understanding of…our own culture.” This chapter of the book resonates with me and should for any parent in America. One only has to talk with children today to understand that the school system is failing our society which also leads one to conclude that parents are failing their children for not caring enough to fight it. This is a concerning issue that our elders and politicians are not realizing or caring about.
Another interesting issue politically incorrect to talk about and has a lot to do with the education of our children is the Max Weber and Sigmund Freud discussions of their day. Weber had a point of showing that the west’s ascension was directly related to its Protestant background. That may be true as Britain is now considered the most “godless” of societies in Europe and it showing what effect a lack of God may have had in its decline. Freud predicted this and knew that “instinctual passions are stronger than reasonable interests.” Therefore he knew and understood that as the west grew in wealth they would leave their religion behind. Even though the church population in America is still thriving it is a result of marketing the new age church but it has left less discipline and accountability on its members. Britain never adopted the new style of church but the book addresses the issues raised by many authors about religion and the western society.
One point made in the book is that China has a huge influx of churches built in recent times as government has opened up to this ideology. Ferguson points out that the Wenzhou province is the most entrepreneurial city in China, workers work longer hours than Americans, and save a fifth of their income. Could it be because they are the largest Christian population in China? He discusses this and it is interesting to bring up and shouldn’t be ignored as the west is losing its Christian identity.
So is America and the west on the decline? Maybe! One thing is for sure. All empires of the past have had their decline and as Ferguson points out they were rather short declines at best. It is also true that no other civilization rose as fast as the United States but many suggest that the fall could be as fast and if not then even more rapid than the ascension. The book is a good look at what civilization has done to help this ascension and the future will depend on what happens in the next few years. All experts agree that the next twenty years will be different that the past twenty. Civilization needs to prepare for this or the future will be violent and grim.
