The Salvaging of CivilizationWells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Philosophy
The Salvaging of Civilization
Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Civilization, Modern -- 20th century; Education
Now this great community of the United States is, I repeat, an
altogether new thing in history. There have been great empires before
with populations exceeding 100 millions, but these were associations of
divergent peoples; there has never been one single people on this scale
before. We want a new term for this new thing. We call the United States
a country, just as we call France or Holland a country. But really the
two things are as different as an automobile and a one-horse shay. They
are the creations of different periods and different conditions; they
are going to work at a different pace and in an entirely different way.
If you propose--as I gather some of the League of Nations people
propose--to push the Peace of the World along on a combination of these
two sorts of vehicle, I venture to think the Peace of the World will be
subjected to some very considerable strains.
Let me now make a brief comparison between the American and the European
situation in relation to these vital matters, locomotion and the general
means of communicating. I said just now that the United States of
America owe most to the revolution in locomotion and have felt it least.
Europe on the other hand owes least to the revolution in locomotion and
has felt it most. The revolution in locomotion found the United States
of America a fringe of population on the sea margins of a great rich
virgin empty country into which it desired to expand, and into which it
was free to expand. The steamboat and railway seemed to come as a
natural part of that expansion. They came as unqualified blessings. But
into Western Europe they came as a frightful nuisance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account