Modern World History
Connect the Dots From Past to Present
This Class is based on the view, aligned with California standards, that Western Civilization is exceptional-- formed over millenia, based upon the foundations of ancient Greece, Rome, Judeo-Christian moral roots, British law, and rational foundation of the Enlightenment.
Students will interact with competing views of Western Civilization, and see Western Civilization more vividly in comparison to real-life 20th century totalitarian governments.
Students will interact with competing views of Western Civilization, and see Western Civilization more vividly in comparison to real-life 20th century totalitarian governments.
The West is the greatest, most humane civilization in the world (despite its flaws):
"It is now in vogue to celebrate non-Western cultures and disparage Western ones. Some of this is a much-needed reckoning, but much of it fatally undermines the very things that created the greatest, most humane civilization in the world."
-- Douglas Murray, The War Against the West
-- Douglas Murray, The War Against the West
OR...
The West is a grand narrative that is pure fiction, imagined in two ways:
[ONE] "In the chill of battle, we forged a grand narrative about Athenian democracy, the Magna Carta, Copernican revolution, and so on. Plato to NATO. Western culture was, at its core, individualistic and democratic and liberty-minded and tolerant and progressive and rational and scientific. Never mind that pre-modern Europe was none of these things, and that until the past century democracy was the exception in Europe – something that few stalwarts of western thought had anything good to say about.
[TWO] Critics of western culture, producing a photonegative emphasising slavery, subjugation, racism, militarism, and genocide, were committed to the very same essentialism, even if they see a nugget not of gold but of arsenic."
-- Kwame Anthony Appiah, The Guardian
[TWO] Critics of western culture, producing a photonegative emphasising slavery, subjugation, racism, militarism, and genocide, were committed to the very same essentialism, even if they see a nugget not of gold but of arsenic."
-- Kwame Anthony Appiah, The Guardian
And / Or...
The West stands or falls, is made or broken, in relation to the virtue and wisdom of the average citizen:
This is an excerpt from President Teddy Roosevelt's speech at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) in France in 1910. His topic is "Citizens in a Republic." He speaks to the French leaders about things that they all--being leaders in free, western republics (not authoritarian dictatorships)--have in common.
"Today I shall speak to you on the subject of individual citizenship, the one subject of vital importance to you, my hearers, and to me and my countrymen, because you and we are great citizens of great democratic republics. A democratic republic such as ours—an effort to realize its full sense government by, of, and for the people --
"Today I shall speak to you on the subject of individual citizenship, the one subject of vital importance to you, my hearers, and to me and my countrymen, because you and we are great citizens of great democratic republics. A democratic republic such as ours—an effort to realize its full sense government by, of, and for the people --
US President Teddy Roosevelt
represents the most gigantic of all possible social experiments, the one fraught with great responsibilities alike for good and evil. The success of republics like yours and like ours means the glory, and our failure the despair, of mankind; and for you and for us the question of the quality of the individual citizen is supreme.
Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. If, under such governments, the quality of the rulers is high enough, then the nations for generations lead a brilliant career, and add substantially to the sum of world achievement, no matter how low the quality of average citizen; because the average citizen is an almost negligible quantity in working out the final results of that type of national greatness.
But with you and us the case is different. With you here, and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional crises which call for heroic virtues. The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation."
Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. If, under such governments, the quality of the rulers is high enough, then the nations for generations lead a brilliant career, and add substantially to the sum of world achievement, no matter how low the quality of average citizen; because the average citizen is an almost negligible quantity in working out the final results of that type of national greatness.
But with you and us the case is different. With you here, and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional crises which call for heroic virtues. The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation."
What are Some Defining Features--the 7 Pillars-- of Western Civilization?
- The fullest attempt at this ideal so far is the design of the United States Constitution: a representative democracy with checks and balances and limits on governmental power, crafted deliberately to preserve rights and prevent tyranny. It was greatly influenced by Enlightenment ideals. The political scientist R. J. Rummel, who spent his career counting deaths caused by governments, concluded that democracies kill their own people at far lower rates than any other form of government. His word for the alternative was "democide."
- Western countries operate under the rule of law, not arbitrary decrees or diktats from a ruler or government authority. Western law codes, rooted in Roman law and English Common law — including the landmark Magna Carta, which made the king subject to the same laws as everyone else — are built to be clear, stable, and applied equally under an independent judiciary. For example, in Western countries the government cannot lawfully surveil a citizen without specific cause and a judge's warrant; in China, by contrast, the state openly operates mass surveillance of the entire population. Written law itself is far older — Hammurabi's code predates Rome — but making the ruler subject to the law is the Western turn.
- An individual's right to freely choose their own religion, or none at all, was won after centuries of wars and millions of lives lost. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 marked an end to the European wars of religion and a new era in which sovereign nations chose a dominant religion for their nation-- without interference from other European nations-- yet subjects could practice their religion of choice whether or not it aligned with the state's religion.
- Western countries are known as free countries in part because their citizens can freely speak out to criticize the government. This right is cherished because it is a standout feature of the west, unheard of in most other nations in history. It's far more typical for rulers to severely punish anyone who criticizes the ruling authorities and is still common today. This western tradition began in ancient Greece where free speech was a very important part of public discourse. They and the Romans held in high regard the practice of oration, persuasive speech, and debate. Free speech is less formal today but is still of the utmost importance. Freedom of assembly allows people to come together to express or pursue their common interests or ideas. The US Constitution guarantees free speech more broadly than any other.
- Capitalism has generated more economic growth than any system yet tried — more people have risen out of poverty under it than under any other economic arrangement. Under capitalism, buyers and sellers negotiate in the open market for goods and services, without government or other outside intervention or coercion. The result is a flexible and responsive economic system that encourages innovation and protects against the shortages or gluts that follow from misguided centralized control. Capitalism is heavily criticised, above all on the charge that the rich take advantage of the poor and the working class. Winston Churchill put the comparison this way in the House of Commons on 22 October 1945: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
- In western countries, citizens are equal under the law (so the rich and powerful are held to the same standards of justice as everyone else) and society tends toward improving equality of opportunity for all citizens. The Enlightenment thinkers articulated natural rights that belong to everyone and cannot be taken away. John Locke argued that slavery violates natural right — no one can give away their right to freedom — even as Locke himself invested in the slave trade. Within a century, Quakers and other Christians pressed that argument to its conclusion, and the West abolished the slavery it had practised. The west's fierce defense of property rights, with roots going back to the Ten Commandments' admonition "thou shalt not steal," starkly contrasts with Communism's prohibition of private ownership.
- Reason, logic, and rational thought have been foundational pillars of Western civilization, shaping its development and progress for centuries. These principles underpin the scientific method, democratic governance, and the rule of law. They have led to groundbreaking discoveries, technological advancements, and the Enlightenment's principles of individual liberty and human rights. Reason and logic foster critical thinking, enabling societies to solve complex problems, adapt to changing circumstances, and build a more just and prosperous world. In essence, they are the intellectual bedrock upon which the enduring values and achievements of Western civilization have been built.
