The Opposition…

Civilization: The West and the Rest

Niall Ferguson

Discussion: 2011-Oct-Nov-Dec

Why we're reading this: November 7, 2011
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2011-Oct-Nov-Dec

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* December 2011
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 35 views

last updated Dec 20, 2011 06:46PM

* November 2011
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 29 views

last updated Dec 03, 2011 08:09PM

What Members Thought

Apr 30, 2012 Jack rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, nonfiction

Interesting. The 6 killer apps that Ferguson claims were responsible for the West rising up and advancing. OK. As others have said about the book, the stories are great, but some of them don't necessarily enhance the theory he's laying out. His chapter on the importance of medicine is far more about colonialism. He offers an approach to all this stuff that right-leaning people will enjoy more than others, but everyone can learn lots from all of this. Niall is a fancy way of calling yourself Neal ...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Janastasia Whydra rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, essays, philosophy-theory, political, historical, current-affairs

Although I like reading about predictions of the future based on modern interpretation of societies, in the back of my mind I still think these authors are crackpots and this includes Niall Ferguson, albeit his Civilization: The West and the Rest is well-researched.

According to Ferguson, Western society arose to dominant the world because: 1) in the beginning they were behind the known empires at the time, ex. China, and the West want to advance their technology, but ended up surpassing the Chin Although I like reading about predictions of the future based on modern interpretation of societies, in the back of my mind I still think these authors are crackpots and this includes Niall Ferguson, albeit his Civilization: The West and the Rest is well-researched.

According to Ferguson, Western society arose to dominant the world because: 1) in the beginning they were behind the known empires at the time, ex. China, and the West want to advance their technology, but ended up surpassing the Chinese empire because the Chinese were relaxed to the point of stagnancy (in their scientific and technological evolution). 2) The United States had a radically different-structure society compared to the rest of the world, one where the people are in power and the government exists to serve the citizens. 3) The West was more willing to exploit the minorities, either through slavery or imperialism, to their advantage. 4) The United States became a dominant power because they were able to provide capital and men during World War II and provide products and entertainment for consumption for civilians during the Cold War (whereas Russia could not even make jeans). 5) The West's strong belief in Christianity.

Ferguson implies, Western society will fall because: 1) The West has become stagnant in technology and does not teach much science in schools, while other countries in the East and Middle-East are patenting thousands of inventions a year. 2) The government has grown too big, become corrupted, and wasteful to it's resources, i.e. taxes. 3) The United States most recent history and present society unemployment rate, inability to produce, and too much consumption and dependency of foreign aid and goods. 4) The United States shifting religion and the majority of the Western atheism. 5) At the same time of the West's decline, the Rest is inclining.

Unlike most doomsday prophets, Ferguson does not give an estimate of when the West will fall, only that it is falling. I think his lack of a specific timeline is his insurance against being considered a crackpot, but it also shows his lack of faith in his own theory of the fall of the West. ...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Eileen rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

Interesting read about the rise of the West by way of 6 killer apps. Not sure I agree with his assertions about Christianity and the tenuous connection made to China in that regard.

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