It was the great historian, Arnold Toynbee, who I believe got it right. After studying dozens of past cycles, he declared that civilizations thrive when they invest faith and hope in their creative minorities. When they see the future as a destination and willingly adapt new ways to reach it. Toynbee — after surveying many tales of rise and fall — concluded that cultures start to decline when those creative minorities become distrusted, or are starved of capital, or left out in the cold. Or when they are shunned by those in power. I mention this, because the clear and distinct pattern the we see in the latest phase of the American Civil War… similar to what occcured in earlier phases… has been an underlying theme of populist hatred for society’s brightest and most skilled. David Brin ☀
Monday 15 February 2010
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