Well, now we are 100 years away from this year...World War I had begun and over 100,000,000 million people have died in wars since then..our world has made great technological advances since then..but is the world a better place in 2014 than in 1914? It would be fair to say that the past 100 years has dramatically changed the human family, maybe more than any other time in history..
I was reading an article the other day that suggested a century often 'finds its character' in its 14th year. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-31/what-if-the-21st-century-begins-in-2014-.html They didn't really talk about the 14th years before 1814, though... and before anyone else says it-- no, there isn't anything scientific about it.
One one level it might seem that one form of mass insanity has simply replaced an earlier one. I think the dangers we face are greater now than in 1914. Not only from further much more destructive wars, but pollution, climate change etc. Also the nature of warfare has changed a great deal. Conflict with and within Islam for example could drag on for decades to come. And if we do ever get to WWIII, it'll leave few survivors to look back in another 100 years. As to whether the world is a better place now, I think it's swings and roundabouts. Better in some ways worse in others. (Edit) - One way it is better, at least in some countries is that people have more individual freedom of expression etc. But nowadays it seems that is being eroded.
WWI (thats World War not World Wide) was started by an act of terrorism and we were afraid of socialism and communism. We also had problems with monopolies, corporate greed, and poor education. So yeah I think we've progressed a lot since then.
For the moment being, yes :biggrin: and seriously, I don't see it changing on the short term. More so due to the technological changes than just another couple of wars (imho).
It's an oversimplification to say that WWI was started by an act of terrorism. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was certainly an element in starting WWI, and it is generally considered the starting point of WWI. WWI would have almost certainly not happened if that assassination alone were the only precipitating cause.
True enough. We Brits fought what was basically an imperial war. The whole of WWI was a clash of empires left over from the 19th c. For the men involved, including my one grandfather and two great grandfathers, one of whom died, it was a sheer hell. As it was for many Belgian and French civilians. Here in the UK we have had recently a cabinet minister (Gove) writing in a newspaper that we should discard "left wing" accounts of the war, and rejoice in what was a patriotic war fought for 'freedom'. That worries me. It makes me think that although we have moved forward in some ways, in others we seem to be going through a regression.
Well alas we've seen it all before Knights in armour, days for yore The same old fears and the same old crimes We haven't changed since ancient times..
World War I dominated 1914 but there were a few other things like the completion of Cape Cod Canal making it an island, Ford motor company announced the 8 hour work day, Charlie Chaplin made his film debut, Babe Ruth debuted as a Boston Red Sox, and the KKK had millions of loyal followers – Is the world a better place – No, lets hope we see real change in the next 100 Hotwater
A war fought with airplanes, tanks, submarines and machine guns and it happened a century ago. That's pretty mind boggling.
I hope they don't nuke us man. We should probably just nuke all those countries we aren't cool with before they get the chance. Better them than us.
