One World,Many Worlds

[Princess Cadance]

This is a thesis I wrote for my high school,a while back. It was the final exam for English. I thought,why not post it here and see what you guys thought?

One World, Many Worlds

We share one world. That is clear, isn’t it? We the members of the human race, Homo Sapiens are brothers by species and by environment. We have one world. One which we must share between us all. One world…or many? Since the beginning of man, we have been divided by many things. Religion, race, language, culture. This and many more has kept us distinct. The man in Saudi Arabia is not the same as the man in Brazil, as is the man in Europe. Why? As man spread across the world, he adapted and changed to fight the dangers of his home and the environment of where he lived. You could not live the same in Kenya,as you could in China, as in Germany. Yet as time went on these differences became more distinct and varied. These differences coalesced into a familiarity and sameness that people who lived near each other shared. This has long caused conflict within our world. Yet today the differences between men, “the Clash of Civilizations” is greater than ever.
Much of this can all be traced back to Columbus. Christopher Columbus, born in the city of Genoa, back when it was capital of its own independent republic, within Italia. He was the one who “discovered” America, in the service of the Crown of Castile. This ignited a process called colonization, the ruling of land by foreign powers. The Europeans, using to great effectiveness the Chinese invention of gunpowder and fueled by an increase in science and industry conquered as colonies the “New World.” And as new opportunities arose Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceania all fell to European domination. Yet this was not true for all states. Japan, unlike its larger neighbor China, became like the European powers adopting there lifestyle and becoming “Western.” Yet what was Western? According to most definitions Western or Western European civilization is the common culture, shared by most of Europe and some of its former colonies which include “a Biblical-Christian tradition, European cultural influences fused with the ideals of Romanticism, Greco-Roman cultural influence and the ideas of humanism, rationalism, and scholasticism.” Yet why did this make the Europeans more powerful, then their contemporaries, for example the Great Qing Empire of China or the Ottoman Caliphate? In truth it did not. What did? It was there rapid industrialization which they took to far more earnestly, than the Asian or African states and their willingness to use it for their benefit.


By 1900, over the course of 4 centuries Europeans had colonized much of the world. True, older colonies had broken off, the Americas where no longer colonies save for Belize, the Guyana’s, Canada, and several islands in the Caribbean. Yet these states where in no way equals to the European world powers, save for America and this was due to a shared cultural inheritance and the idea of America as a “white” nation. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and other former European colonies where far weaker then America. Perhaps this was due to the fact America had been the only colony to actually seek independence with the help and approval of Europe, unlike Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina all of which had fought alone. These states had seized independence in the confusion following Spain and Portugal's weakening power due to there occupation during the Napoleonic wars, seeing a chance of freedom from far-off colonial masters. Yet they had no support except themselves. Europe did not willingly release its rule. America had however been supported by France, Spain and others in its war and unlike Spain’s colonies its biggest population group was pure European blood, not the mixed Native and Spanish blood of the “Mestizos” the name for the children of Iberian colonists and Native people. Even after independence, these states depended on support from Europe often times in the form of loans from the rich banks of the continent. As European influence diminished in the Americas, the United States took on their role. It was now America’s destiny to spread European civilization to the “savages” of the American west. Manifest Destiny was ordained by god and by racial and cultural superiority. No matter what was the fate of the native people of these lands.

In our modern world colonialism is gone. The only true“empire” is the State of Japan and only due to their continuance of a symbolic imperial family. Yet the West now considered to be made up of North America (U.S. and Canada), West and Central Europe, the Baltic States and Croatia, Australia and New Zealand, still stands at the forefront. Of the states with the 10 highest GDP's in the world, half are Western. Of the states with the 20 highest Human Development ratings, only 4 are non-Western. Of the 10 largest military's in the world, 5 are once more Western. The differences in living standards are startling as well. And at times almost darkly humorous. A first world or Western citizen will likely never complain of starvation. Or AIDS. Or constant warfare in the streets. Even then, how many times have you complained of your life? Probably many times. In fact the idea of people, living in privileged First World or Western countries complaining of insignificant or unimportant petty problems has stemmed a type of popular internet joke. This joke, a “meme” or concept spread on the internet is commonly called “First World Problems” and involves people complaining and griping of insignificant problems such as “I went to get cash at the drive-through ATM, and the armored car was reloading it. I had to sit in my car for like ten minutes. It was a nightmare.” or “My phone doesn’t have a data plan, so all I can do on it is text and call people.”To complain about things so mundane and simple, when many do not have even enough to eat, can create feelings of guilt or greed. Furthermore we are often the cause of these problems. The colonization’s and more modernly, invasions of lesser third and second world countries has undoubtedly not helped them.


Yet some things changed. Latvia, Poland, and Croatia where at one time all“Eastern” second world countries, under communist rule. Yet now all are first-world and Western countries. Interestingly they are all now members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization.) NATO is a Cold War era alliance, which has continued to the modern day between the U.S.A, Canada, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and the U.K along with 21 other European states and Turkey. All these states are with the exception of Albania, Romania, and Bulgaria are First World states. Turkey is also non-Western along with the previous four. So is NATO membership or perhaps more accurately Western friendship an invitation to the status of “First World?” As well it is interesting to note that of states considered “First World” Cyprus, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, and the European micro-states (Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, and the Vatican) are the only ones which are not NATO members or allies of any other Western states, due to traditional neutrality. Even non-European first world states (Israel or Japan) are considered “Western” in a sense due to European influence. So is this our modern world? Is the colonialism and imperialism of the past now re-incarnated as the Western world? Culturally, financially, politically, and militarily we are the world leaders. Our military's and economies tower over those of the lesser second(the former Eastern bloc states outside of Croatia, Central Europe, and the Baltic along with developing states such as China) and third(the vast majority of poor Iberian American, Asian and African states.) Our culture is the precedent that all others strive for. Who has not heard of Mickey Mouse, the Beatles, or Gunsmoke? Christianity, which our Roman “ancestors”eventually propagated through there empire is now the religion of the West, though now somewhat diminished and the largest religion worldwide, with 2.2 billion adherents, the author of this work one of them. The common language of business and diplomacy? English. And despite the growing power of new world powers, the People’s Republic of China, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of India and others they still lag far behind the industrial power and political might of the West.
Furthermore we continue to use and perhaps take advantage of the far poorer countries of our world. Look at your shirt, your computer, or even food. Won’t it most likely say “Made in China, Brazil, El Salvador, or Bosnia and Herzegovina?” all poor states that are…taken advantage of by the First and Western worlds? Are they our colonies? As an American I am proud of our country. I am proud of my ancestry’s legacy,that of Europe. And I find our Western culture and history fascinating. But must that come at the cost of the rest of the world? Is the idea of “the West and the Rest” our future? Even though we continue to donate millions of dollars to poor countries, does it ever change? To a great degree the current state of the world, are the consequences of the West and now the First World’s colonialism and imperialism. Do we owe the second and third worlds our help in rebuilding? Do we? Can we? And perhaps most importantly, should we? We are the First World. We stand at the top of advancement and technology throughout history. Yet even if we do live in our own “world” perhaps, we still are the “masters” of the rest. Now we should remember a quote from the Roman writer Horace. He was talking of his people the Romans. Yet could it not also be us? “Quae caret ora cruore nostro?” What coast knows not our blood? What will the coasts of the world remember us as though? We are one world. Yet still many.