I was about to compliment you on another thread about how much I enjoy your historical posts.
But this one has left me confounded. Greed? Materialism? Really?
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Thank you for the compliment, yet permit me to support my assertion.
As 500 AD approached, the Roman Empire had just collapsed and the
Province of Gaul had became France, under the Frankish King, Covis I.
Over the next 1300 years, the Estates General ruled that nation, the First
comprising the Monarchy and RC Church, the Second, the heredity Nobility
while the Third comprised the agrarian landholders and their peasantry.
As the centuries passed, the first two exempted themselves from all taxation
leaving that vast burden on the poorest; some 98% of the population.
This was the core reason for the ferocity of the French Revolution which
killed tens of thousands of the Clergy, Nobility, as well as the Royal Family.
That Revolution transformed France, ushering in the Enlightenment but it
also did something else, not recognized at the time.
Prior to 1700, betterment/progress was largely measured in spiritual terms
but scientific experimentation across Europe, had advanced Man's awareness
and knowledge of the possible; creating a notion of material/secular progress
as a good in and of itself. In effect, it opened the door to Capitalism.
Is the world better off for this sea change in tone and temperament???
One way to measure betterment is by the quality of Art a culture/society produces.
Assess the Literature of Shakespeare, the Music of Franz Jozef Haydn, the
Paintings in the Sistine Chapel of Michelangelo as well as the Parthenon in Athens
of Phidias and the Pantheon in Rome of Agrippa, as all were created prior to Capitalism.
What Art has modern Man produced that remotely equals the genius of these???
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