Page 99 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

this fleeting world / our world: the modern era tfw-39

This plate shows a variety of
tools of increasing technological
complexity used by humans at
different times and places to
twist fiber. Spindles 1 and 2 are
the simplest forms (other than
human fingers) with fiber wound
around a wooden peg. Spindles 3
through 7 are more complex,
with a whorl added to the
spindle. Spindle 9 marks the
transition to modern spindles
shown in 10 and 11 with
flywheels.

revolution. So, too, are the structures of democracy, rule that modern governments have to be effective eco-
which allow governments to align their policies more nomic managers. The creation of more democratic sys-
closely with the needs and capabilities of the large and tems of government, the declining importance of slavery,
varied populations they rule. Nationalism—the close the ending of European imperial power during the twen-
emotional and intellectual identification of citizens with tieth century, the collapse of the Soviet command econ-
their governments—is another by-product of these new omy in 1991, and the ending of apartheid (racial segre-
relationships between governments and those they rule. gation) in South Africa in 1990 and 1991 all reflected a
The presence of democracy and nationalism may sug- growing awareness that successful economic manage-
gest that modern governments are more reluctant to ment is more effective than crudely coercive forms of rule.
impose their will by force, but, in fact, they have much
more administrative and coercive power than did rulers Growing Gap between
of the agrarian era. No government of the agrarian era Rich and Poor
tried to track the births, deaths, and incomes of all the Although wealth has accumulated faster than ever before,
people it ruled or to impose compulsory schooling; yet, the gap between rich and poor has widened, both within
many modern governments handle these colossal tasks and between countries.The estimates of Angus Maddison
routinely. Modern states can also inflict violence more suggest that in 1820 the GDP per person of the United
effectively and on a larger scale than even the greatest States was about three times that of all African states; by
empires of the agrarian era. Whereas an eighteenth- 1998 the ratio had increased to almost twenty times that
century cannon could destroy a house or kill a closely of all African states.Yet, some of the benefits of modern
packed group of soldiers, modern nuclear weapons can technologies have been shared more generally. Improve-
destroy entire cities and millions of people, and the con- ments in the production and supply of food and in san-
certed launch of many nuclear weapons could end itation, as well as improved understanding of diseases
human history within just a few hours. and the introduction of vaccinations (during the nine-
A subtler change in the nature of power is the in- teenth century) and antibiotics (during the twentieth cen-
creased dependence of modern states on commercial suc- tury) help explain why, for the first time in human history,
cess rather than raw coercion. Their power depends so so few people die in infancy or childhood that average life
much on the economic productivity of the societies they expectancies have more than doubled, rising from about