Why the West Won
For the past few centuries, Western Civilization has dominated the world both culturally and economically. Why? Some point to imperialism, slavery, and colonial wars. But those sins are common to all empires throughout history. What separates the West from the rest? Stanford historian Niall Ferguson has the answer in this highly informative video.
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Script:
According to folklore, Mahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western Civilization. He replied that he thought it would be a good idea.
This was supposed to be a joke, but forgive me for taking the other side. I think Western Civilization was—and is—a good idea.
This is the nearest thing to heresy that exists in modern academic life.
At most universities in the English-speaking world, there are demands to “decolonize the curriculum.” As a result, fewer and fewer students now graduate with any understanding of what has differentiated the West from the rest of the world. They leave with the misleading view that the defining features of Western Civilization are slavery, imperialism and war.
No one would deny that, after they began to expand overseas in the late 1400s, the peoples of western Europe engaged in all of those things. But the point is that these were the least original things they did. Prior to that time, nearly all major civilizations enslaved people, built empires and made war. In many of the places that Europeans went—South America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia—they encountered empires.
The West first surged ahead of the rest thanks to a series of institutional innovations that I call the “killer applications”:
1. Economic and political competition. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was politically fragmented into multiple monarchies and republics. These in turn were internally divided into competing corporate entities, among them the ancestors of modern business corporations. The Medici Bank in Renaissance Florence is a good example.
2. The Scientific Revolution. All the major 17th-century breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology happened in Western Europe. The difference with earlier advances in science was the realization that through experiment and measurement, nature could not only be understood, but manipulated and even mastered.
3. The rule of law and representative government. An optimal system of social and political order emerged in the English-speaking world, based on private property rights and the representation of property owners in elected legislatures. This was quite different from the systems of law that had evolved elsewhere, in which individual rights were given short shrift.
4. Modern medicine. Nearly all the major 19th- and 20th-century breakthroughs in health care were made by Western Europeans and North Americans. Ironically, it was European researchers working in colonies who found cures for some of the most lethal tropical diseases—such as yellow fever.
5. The consumer society. The Industrial Revolution took place where there was both a supply of productivity-enhancing technologies and a demand for more, better, and cheaper goods. Without elastic demand for manufactured cloth, for example, there would have been little point in driving down its price.
6. The work ethic. Westerners worked longer, worked harder, and saved more of what they earned. This led to unprecedented capital accumulation, which in turn led to investment in the wonders of modern technology.
For hundreds of years, these killer apps were essentially monopolized by West Europeans and their cousins who settled in North America and Australasia. They are the best explanation for what economic historians call “the great divergence”: the astonishing gap that arose between Western standards of living and those in the rest of the world.
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source
Not once does he address the impact of agriculture on the topic of the great divergence. Had it not been for the early dev. Of agriculture in Europe it is very unlikely that they would have occupied the superior position they enjoyed for most of the 20th century.
The fall of western civilizations will be destroyed by their own generations soon, gen z social media influences and lgbt, if they let them grow stronger, soon the west will fall. Me as an Asian can't wait to see the fall of western civilizations.
Since this video likes facts. I like the fact that the narrator never mention colonization was a huge part of western advancement. But instead just put it in a narrative that dictates " every nation has done it too " just to avoid the whole complexity . Baghdad ,house of wisdom was 3-5 centriues ahead of scientific breakthrough compare to europe. But after the political turmoil and mongol invasion during the 12-13th century. The advancement setback. Than ideas and knowledge were brought back to europe, kickstarting the renaissance during the 14-15th century
this video is so BS that I thought he was joking. The fundamentally reason why the West is more advanced is because they colonized other weaker nations and steal from them.
Although the West wasn't the only civilization that partook in imperialism, slavery, and war, they DID do it in greater forms of Effectiveness and Cultural Dominance due to two things:
(1) the certainty of good and evil conveyed through Biblical teachings
(2) the applications this man mentioned that made them stronger.
The Christian Faith is strongest not only because of the concept of forgiveness, but because it conveys a clear dichotomy of good and evil as well as a demand that their followers "expand" that early adopters took to heart to spread elsewhere colonially or by force.
Eventually, as the great applications expanded (including scientific and philosophical reasoning), it turned on the narrative of Christian ethics… Leading to philosophical developments some may call "postmodern".
Such developments led to the realization the basic moral dichotomies of the Bible were ethically wrong and unjust and led to internal revisions on such things as the equality and treatment of women and the keeping of slaves.
But it's always important to note that the West wasn't morally equivalent to everyone just because everyone at the time held to imperialism, slavery, and war.
On the contrary the West was the BIGGEST player in the game precisely because they developed the greatest might from the Major Applications this man mentions.
At the core, it made the West a more EFFECTIVE civilization. But Judeo-Christian Faith was not immutably ethical from inception. It needed to fix itself.
Most peaple think Western civilization is all about war, monopoly, takinhg advantage of a woman, and vice versa. I wouldve thought the same way,, as a youbg American. But western civilization is NOT that. Yes, colonialism and slavery are some very dark parts of American history, but EVERY OTHER civilization did the exact same thing. We need to weigh both the good and the bad before we judge.
Superb. The leftism and progressives are poisoning the universities agaist the values of westen civilazation. Everything managing by the left are destroing the economy, the security and de costumes.
It came up with market society. Karl Polanyi is still, i guess, the best answer for this matter.
Let’s hope a new generation of Westerners, worthy of the West, will rise to take it back from the self flagellating and self hating generation before them, along with protecting it from non-natives.
Moreover, let’s hope that’s the case with everywhere, or at least places where non-natives are allowed entry. Let’s hope globalization ends in the next decade, and let’s hope for nations with 90-98% of their respective populations, made up of nothing but natives.
Private property rights? You mean like the ones that northern countries stole from the Spanish and the templars? That is why Rome fell, and they appropriated it.. I'm still pro west, but the original west.
The west has been at the top for only the last 300 years, before then there were the Grecoromans, lasting over 1000 years, the Persians who lasted another 1000 years, and countless others. The west is by no means unique, it will one day be eclipsed, just like everyone else was eclipsed
Colonialism basically
Western civilisation is a great idea. But I hate some PragerU videos because they propagate western superiority over other cultures.
4:16 when u try to justify your crimes , how come a human can accept this ?
The Arabs created your number system the renassance wouldnt happened without them. 800 ad blacks led spain into a new age – its the hidden lies that only the west did anything thats the problem! AND If you go back far enough your Ancestors are AFRICAN you proud person! We can hear pride and umbridhe in your one sided view of the world. That's not the problem the three things you mentioned – the problem is the west thinking they're the master' as you say best and everyone else is animals for example an Indian man discovered gravity not Newton your number system it Arabic.
America didn’t sanction you and you are there ally thats why you win
this is one of the most idiotic videos I have ever seen. You at no point even attempted to get into the minutia of the role that the wests slavery, empires and wars played in its domination. I don't think all of the things that he bring up are irrelevant to the wests rise, but christ. Those textiles he was talking about in the consumerism section were entirely filed by slavery but he didn't even attempt to delve into the nuance of that. this is propoganda
Re-do this saying "Why the West failed"
Ah yes, AustraLazia
Very self-serving, almost propoganda video.Enjoy patting your own back.
what about japan, south korea, singapore, taiwan, hong kong, argentina, brazil and mauritius? this is not specifically western necessarly, but i agree that there are certain values that bring a society to success
the fact is that the world is still changing back and forth. The Western world is the master of the present, but the future is uncertain. One powerful regime is destined to be replaced by the next. I think what really matters is not which civilization, but what great births we as human beings can witness during our existence, and how we face this world.
So if the West is so great how come it is falling?
The only problem in the West is the sexual decadence, only if these unnecessary behaviors doesn't exist in the West, you will see most people in the East want to live in the West, but the Westerners have gained prosperity at the expense of dignity and happiness, and it's to psychological factors like the excessive freedom that French studies have proven to make a man do worse things than animals do, as well as the loss of meaning under the shade of comfort
Winston Churchill that man who considered indians lowly is the one you take as ideal what more can be expected from a white person
"Hypocrisy at its best"
0:43 Uh, hedonism, worshiping celebs, wokeness, false Christianity (Thank the Catholics in 1054 for that), and the complete destruction of morality… need I go on?
People can deny this video all they want, but people seriously need to realize how much of their normal life stuff is western. im not talking about culture, im talking about how we handle things.
Why did you exclude Ukraine from other Europe? 2:09
Western values are just human values. Please guys, just try to see beyond the veil that is geographic, cultural, and very minor physical differences, and realize that we, as the dominant species on Earth, all value these basic morals and values, not just the west.
Is Japan considered part of the Western Civilization? cause they're a successful country
how did the West Impose those killer applications to the rest of the world. Of cause through Slavery, War and building Empires rendering the rest of the world's view on civilization as inferior.
The best art too.
West is like huricane, USA is like snake, remember libya, Libya was build from nothing, become africas richest country and then west said they are not good and destroyed them, remember iraq, they were once great country with much to offer with connection to the sea and West said they are developing too much, Remember Afganistan with its rich cultural foundations, with strong economy, West said they are not good and destroyed it, Vietnam, Japan, Yemen, Syria i can talk about this for days. I don't understand one thing, why? You are creating conflict, you are desease of this world, i'm glad that russia is something you can't bitte, i'm glad Iran is not your puppet, China, India, one day they will all unite under Russian banner to take out snake's head.
None of this is true except private property. A civilisations have all the features you mention science, medicine, productivity and etc… Why private property emerge in Europe as enclosure movement? London would be dead if the monarch don't provide ease of trade and private property. Constraint and adversity is the mother of creativity. Otherwise there's nothing unique about "Western civilisations".
West always win