Chicago is at 6/10'000 today, average European towns at 1-2/10'000. I'd call it a civilizatory effect.
Sure it is.. But if you hadn't bothered to notice, much of the world hardly fulfills the definition of "civilized" at the moment..
Especially when religious leaders and militants are brainwashing their followers with the belief that blowing themselves, and unarmed "enemies", will win them great rewards in "heaven"..
As for "*economic necessity", isn't politics and war merely economics by other means? Isn't warfare the final result when political decisions, primarily driven by economic agendas, transcend mere competition and rivalry?
Sure, there have been wars motivated by religious and cultural agendas, but behind them one can generally trace a major influence to economics and personal ambition.
And if you haven't read the article that Alistair McIntosh posted, you should (or reread it)..
Message 19754643
There is a distinct difference between the nationalism that drives Americans, and that which motivates the rest of the world. American nationalism generally revolves around a unified sense of belief in a set of values and ideals.. The rest of the world is still locked into "blood and soil" disputes, including tribal and clan rivalries that stretch back hundreds of years.
The US (imperfect as it might be currently be) is a microcosm, IMO, of what the world can one day look like under a world government.
In fact, I say that the world MUST unify itself based upon a consensus of mutually held values (and compromise), and not according to any belief that non-accountable power elites should enjoy equal legitimacy as democratic nations in a world governmental assembly (the current UN).
I'm certainly not willing to see the US compromise its values and ideals with despotic, and often brutal, authoritarian/totalitarian regimes merely to satisfy some desire for world order.
Hawk |
