El Gav,
Excellent reply. As a true multiculturalist, I don't believe in the evangelization of Western Civilization. I do think it has certain superior attributes, for us, and several wonderful attributes that other cultures and nations will be forced to adopt or get left completely, totally behind.
This is not a case of imperialists forcing their way on others, but of the world simply passing them by. E.g., the native Americans, who will never progress as long as they continue to gaze back wistfully at an idyllic, pre-European past which never really existed. (Read some pre-Columbian Mexican history for tales from an incredibly bloodthirsty culture.)
The problem with the Muslim world is that they have not ever developed a decent code of laws (the Sharia, what a joke--basically a kangaroo court subject to economic power and gender based power, imho) and so nobody is even slightly protected in person or property. Power rules, whether it's the local headman in a Pakistani village or a rich merchant in the medina in Meknes. Go back and read 1000 Nights and think about Saddam Hussein or the mullahs of Iran, or the Saudi family. Nothing as changed except the weaponry. Power is the right to take, to oppress, to murder and rape.
Since long before Moabdil was forced out of the Alhambra in Granada, the Islamic world had ground to a halt in terms of evolving to provide its people with peace and progress. There hasn't been a single invention, discovery, etc. from that part of the world since 1050 a.d., and much of that was built on earlier progress from China, and translated documents from Greek and Latin. Maybe the greatest boost to the Golden Age of Muslim science was the timely (and lucky) introduction of paper making technology; without Chinese paper, maybe no modern mathematics or moon shots.
It's amazing for a culture which advanced geometry and trigonometry, and created geometry, that the last 1,000 years have produced nothing in the sciences, engineering, architecture, industrialization, political science, rights of man, protection of the weak, etc. etc. ad infinitum.
Anyway, good answer, good discussion; but how are we going to make any money out of it?
That's my question.
Kb |
