Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/10/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]If a test of civilization be sought, none can be so sure as the condition of that half of society over which the other half has power. Martineau, Harriet <http://quotationsbook.com/author/4758/> Tina On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 11:36 AM, kyle cassidy on the LUG < leicaslacker at gmail.com> wrote: > You're forgetting the great civilizations of Egypt and Persia which lasted > for thousands of years developed writing, arithmetic, medicine, > agriculture, > astronomy & engineering. By comparison North America's position at the top > of the food chain for less than two hundred years is just a flash in the > pan. > > I suspect things would be a lot less volatile in the Middle East right now > if it didn't have a lot of oil and wasn't surrounded by countries that need > it in enormous quantities. > > Jared Diamond spends a lot of time answering this question in "Guns, Germs > & Steel" > http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552there's > a NOVA special about it too. > > > > On Oct 10, 2010, at 1:17 PM, <tedgrant at shaw.ca> <tedgrant at shaw.ca> > wrote: > > > > So how is it we evolved to the thriving modern countries we are, when > there was nothing here a few hundred years ago? Compared to the people of > the middle east, sub-continent wherever on that side of the world who have > been there thousands of years and it always appears they are still > wallowing > in slums, dirt roads of the past thousand years? And they were there long > before anyone sailed to North America with nothing, in many cases nothing > but the clothes on their back? > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > -- Tina Manley, ASMP www.tinamanley.com