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My friend Leonard Liggio explains it satisfactorily here:
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Of all the civilizations around the world, why did only the Christian West become both free and prosperous? We are talking about distinctions between civilizations. Asian civilization, for example, did not become free and prosperous, even though it had a lot of cultural creativity. But we must also look at other Christian civilizations, such as the Byzantine, Abyssinian, Georgian, and Armenian Christian empires, all of which lasted for many centuries but did not create the kind of free and prosperous society the Christian West did.
Many scholars have studied this and have come to the conclusion that this is due to the fact that the religious institutions were totally separate from, and often in conflict with, political institutions only in the Christian West. This created the space in which free institutions could emerge. The idea of independent religious institutions is absent even in Eastern Christianity; their religious institutions are part of the bureaucracy of the state. In Western Europe, though, the religious institutions were autonomous among themselves, and totally independent from and often in opposition to state power. The result was the creation of a polycentric system. And whenever this system was threatened by claims of total empire by the political rulers, Christian philosophy was utilized as part of its defense.
So within that space, the economic institutions–often modeled on the religious institutions as autonomous entities–could flourish and survive.
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I subscribe to the theory in Guns, Germs, and Steel, which offers a logical environmental basis for the growth of the west, explaining that the natural advantages of the band of earth that had moderate temperatures suitable for diverse livestock and plant life is the primary driving force for the developments in the west (and other advanced cultures, such as the Chinese).
Also, it's worth noting that for much of western history, there was not much separation between church and state. Lastly, it's worth noting that growth of the west came about thanks to slavery and Colonialism, which Christianity found a way to rationalize again and again. Millions of free laborers were certainly part of the wealth of the west.
Nonetheless, it's reasonable to suppose that separation of church and state does create a positive dynamic in the same sense that our form of government generally creates a positive dynamic.
Also, it's worth noting that for much of western history, there was not much separation between church and state.
I think the point of the thesis is that there was separation at some point.
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Lastly, it's worth noting that growth of the west came about thanks to slavery and Colonialism, which Christianity found a way to rationalize again and again. Millions of free laborers were certainly part of the wealth of the west.
Slavery was as old human civilization. It did not originate in the West (same with imperialism). It is worth noting that the movement to abolish slavery originated in the West (a bunch of fundamentalist wackos who took that whole "love thy neighbor" thing to heart).
what a horse**** thread, reeking of convenient rationalization... Replete with religious undertones as the explanation for our "success."
America got "rich" due to slavery, its abundant natural resources and arable soil. Period.
It waited for half the European theater of war to be over (and largely decided) before swooping in to mop up, then filled the power vacuum left behind.
what a horse*** thread, reeking of convenient rationalization... Replete with religious undertones as the explanation for our "success."
America got "rich" due to slavery, its abundant natural resources and arable soil. Period.
It waited for half the European theater of war to be over (and largely decided) before swooping in to mop up, then filled the power vacuum left behind.
You mean it had nothing to do with christianity?? Jeepers Titus and I thought it had to do with god being on our side...
__________________ "Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.
what a horse**** thread, reeking of convenient rationalization... Replete with religious undertones as the explanation for our "success."
America got "rich" due to slavery, its abundant natural resources and arable soil. Period.
It waited for half the European theater of war to be over (and largely decided) before swooping in to mop up, then filled the power vacuum left behind.
America is the entirety of the West? Who knew? And they invented slavery?
More slaves went to Brazil than North America. Does Brazil have any arable land or resources? Weren't you in here braying about Brazil having all of the new oil finds and praising the President for supporting offshore drilling there but not here?
That post is replete with ahistoric nonsense and reductive analysis of the worst kind.
Slavery was as old human civilization. It did not originate in the West (same with imperialism). It is worth noting that the movement to abolish slavery originated in the West (a bunch of fundamentalist wackos who took that whole "love thy neighbor" thing to heart).
The west by far had the most aggressive slavery institutions in history. It came down to killing millions of natives in the United States and South America to make room for millions of slaves (especially in Brazil) and to gain complete domination of resources. Our slavery institutions had a degree of sophistication that is as sophisticated as was Hitlers--the way slaves were shipped, the splitting up of families, the conscious choices in terms of breeding, the conscious act of putting slaves from different tribes together so they did not have a common language. The way the west did slavery would make Hitler proud. And the legacy of our slavery is still there to this day, with Africa having nine landlocked nations, some of which cut tribes in half, and development of a highly corrupt philosophy that has been handed down to directly and indirectly hand-picked rulers. I don't think there anything at all to be proud of with regards to the west in terms of slavery. Not only that, I quick search shows me that countries like Russia and Japan ended slavery long before the west did.
The west by far had the most aggressive slavery institutions in history. It came down to killing millions of natives in the United States and South America to make room for millions of slaves (especially in Brazil) and to gain complete domination of resources. Our slavery institutions had a degree of sophistication that is as sophisticated as was Hitlers--the way slaves were shipped, the splitting up of families, the conscious choices in terms of breeding, the conscious act of putting slaves from different tribes together so they did not have a common language. The way the west did slavery would make Hitler proud. And the legacy of our slavery is still there to this day, with Africa having nine landlocked nations, some of which cut tribes in half, and development of a highly corrupt philosophy that has been handed down to directly and indirectly hand-picked rulers. I don't think there anything at all to be proud of with regards to the west in terms of slavery. Not only that, I quick search shows me that countries like Russia and Japan ended slavery long before the west did.
Russia? Please. They are the kings of human trafficking.
And Japan? They had no real slave trade that needed to be stopped.
You just outlined that the Atlantic Slave Trade was the height of cruelty and a humanitarian disaster. People within the society that drove that helped bring it to an end despite the fact that it was still profitable. To me, the abolition of the trade was more important. In fact, slavery itself remained legal in the British Empire for another 26 years.
Slavery, was the American South the only area on this planet that had slavery, why do liberals harp on it, it was a wrong that has been righted, why do liberals seem to get their rocks off with their racist ***** of trying to make young people today feel guilty about something they or their parents had nothing to do with.
Slavery at one time in the past was a way of life all over the world what the f-ck has it got to do with today.
America came to see that slavery was wrong and America fixed it, now it's part of history.
Get A Life
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Why Did the West Grow Rich?
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