We, as a society, have kept the traditions of social ranking, military strategies, and economic values alive over the several years of developing civilization. Without the elites of past societies, we wouldn't have advanced to our current economic status and enjoy the luxuries we have today. It's within the human nature to learn and grow from the past undesirable situations, and therefore we as a race have improved from the chaotic situations our ancestors have faced. Their vulnerability to the world gave us lessons to learn from, and our society has greatly benefited from it. To me personally I feel as if the balance is positive because we can learn off of others mistakes and not go down the same paths as those who have before them. For example
As members of the new generations, people often wonder about the path of history if something else occurred in the past. What if the Dark Ages never appeared? What if the westerns powers never invaded China? What if the atomic bombs never went off in Japan? At the same time, there are also many questions about why things happen the way they are. Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel – the Fate of Human Societies reflects over 13,000 years of the history of human civilizations, examining why it was Europe that conquered the Americas and Africa but not vice versa. What are the determining factors of the development and progress of human civilizations?
Societies flourish and fall, all of them do. They fight and suffer and even kill to keep their society alive. As a result, societies like ancient Rome and Nazi Germany, eventually fall and crumble. Over time some of these societies recover, but are never the same again. Societies fail due to political corruption, loss of resources and war. These obstacles are hard to overcome, but not impossible. These obstacles weaken and tear at societies, until they finally break, turning them into a piece of history.
history did provide us with positive life lessons - to not replicate their behaviour in the
John F. Kennedy once wrote, “Efforts and courage are not enough without direction.” From this I think he’s saying societies can fall if their not ruled the right way. And some of the societies seemed like nothing could get in their way, but obviously they did because they didn't take good care of them. That goes for a lot of other places also. Great societies fall due to social inequalities, a dysfunctional or corrupt government, a crippled and inflating economy, and over expansion. That’s why Nazi Germany, The Civil Rights Era in America, and Ancient Rome didn't survive.
In 1912, Austrian writer and social critic Karl Kraus wrote, “Civilization ends, since barbarians erupt from it.” Throughout history, civilizations have been demonstrated to fall, often as a direct result of social, economic, and political tension and instability. The profound inequalities that cause these tensions faced by most of the world’s civilizations are felt by the people inhabiting them, leading to outbursts of anxiety and, one could say, barbarism. But what happens after these eruptions or disturbances to the status quo? Throughout history, as barbarism erupts in society, the ones rising up either get what they want in a fairly short amount of time, or chaos ensues, and in the scramble for order, some totalitarian force comes to power.
Through out time, history has had a tendency to repeat it self. It has done so in good means as well as bad. People learn from the past and apply it to their every day lives. Although people try to do the right thing and not follow mistakes that have been already made, they just seem to come about.
The length and severity of the conflict is based upon the perceived value and shortage of the given resource. According to RCT, positive relations can only be restored if superordinate goals are in place that proposes people have a motivation to defend and justify the status quo, even when it may be disadvantageous to certain people. People have a psychological need to maintain stability and order in their lives. As such, they are motivated to see the status quo (or prevailing social, economic, and political norms) as good, legitimate, and desirable.
Imagine a world, where all three-legged chair legs are the same height, each one representing the economic, political, and social aspects of a society. If one of those legs loses or gains height, it could cause what it’s keeping up to topple over and face plant on the ground. This is like what happened to fallen societies, like Rome, the Southern states in America, and Divergent. If one thing goes unbalanced, it causes the whole society to fall and become rubble. These great and powerful societies have collapsed from power hungry people in the government, abusing the poor, and social injustice.
Throughout history great wars have been fought which have led to the decline of civilizations.
Personally I feel that this is the correct way to view societies. At one point in my life I was walking in a park and noticed a man picking up trash and then later on walking I noticed someone disposing of trash wherever they wanted. If only the person that threw the trash down could have placed himself in the shoes of the person picking it up, it might have changed that person. He might have realized what his carelessness had created for someone else. I believe that society is about integration. One back scratches another. From the economic standpoint, I consider it to be like a snowball rolling down the hill. It collects many
There is a natural tendency to strive for excellence. Mediocrity is not sufficient in a society that rewards the winners and punishes the losers. This is precisely why Communism will never work, or even humanity. When a human brain tries to compute the concept of sacrificing itself for another human, it simply does not work. We live and we die in a world where either you win or you lose, and it feels great to be the winner. It feels great to know that you beat somebody. Communism is like a tie game. Nobody wins, and nobody loses, and a lot of people are not able to handle that. In this way, society as a whole cannot handle the ideal concept of humanity. Nobody is willing to give up on winning the game, so we turn against one another until it comes down to natural selection, the survival of the
For centuries, the human population has progressed through the establishment of civilizations; some of the most advanced and notable ancient civilizations thrived on the foundation of a political or social hierarchy, in which a particular group held more power than the other. In Mesopotamia, for example, the king, who was at the top of the ladder, declared laws while slaves worked for the wealthier class. Even today, this hierarchical trend persists; in the United States, members of the judicial, executive, or legislative branch have more influence in politics than ordinary citizens. Within every republic, democracy, monarchy, etc. there will always be a person or group that contains more power than the majority of its citizens. Power can be
Traditionally, we have believed that the highest positions in society should be awarded to those who are best qualified. We generally want the best to have the best positions, the best qualified candidate to win the political office, the most brilliant and competent scientist to be chosen for the most challenging research project, the best qualified pilots to become commercial pilots, only the best soldiers to become generals.
Prestige within the elite group has the influence over the inferior group. Prestige within the elite group brings forth a level of respect through admiration. The elite group has access to resources and power that the less fortunate group would not have. It is this prestige that give the elite group edge over the inferior
One component that is consistent with every society is the existence of social hierarchies. Examples of these can be seen in the caste system of India, the feudal systems most prominent in Europe and Japan, and Mayan/Roman social structures. They exist everywhere because it is human nature to look up to a leader. Choosing a leader gives that person more control over people, which they could use for the better or the worse. Most of the time a division between class widens, and distinct groups are formed- characteristic of the patricians and plebeians of Classic Rome. When have you seen a president or dictator who is not separated significantly from the rest of society in socioeconomic standing and do not have a pack of advisers at the top with them? This may be seen at a moderate level with the Cabinet and President of the