- Location
- Surrey
- Country
England
This is a post on Twitter from Rafe Heydel-Mankoo. https://x.com/RafHM?t=mDRmTacHxm2DnqCsShG2qQ&s=09
Happy #StGeorgesDay 🏴
No country has had a greater or more positive impact on the globe
England's Top 10 Gifts to the World - my speech.
Summary:
1. Industrial Revolution: the greatest leap forward in human development in 12,000 years
2. Railways (above and underground): Transformed society. Crucial to the creation of modern nations (India, Canada, USA etc.) and cities
3. Sport: No country created or codified more sports and had a bigger impact on notions of sportsmanship.
This is not a trivial subject. Globally, sport is arguably the greatest source of national pride, identity, unity and social cohesion.
4. Birthplace of the world's two dominant forms of democracy: Westminster Parliamentary democracy but also the roots of American "Presidential" democracy.
Almost every democracy in the world uses one of these two forms.
5. Common Law
6. English language: the world's first true lingua franca (which should now perhaps be renamed "lingua Anglia")
7. English liberty (aka the rights of Englishmen).
English liberty is very different to Greek or Roman liberty. The United States of America was founded upon the principles of English liberty. The concepts have shaped the Anglosphere and much of the world.
8. Capitalism.
The Italians and Dutch were pioneers of early forms of capitalism, but modern "industrial capitalism" was born in the industrial revolution and no one did more than the English & Scots to spread it globally.
The global spread of capitalism has seen the greatest eradication of poverty in human history. In 1820, 94% of the world lived in poverty. Today it is only 9.6%.
9. English Protestantism (Anglicanism, Methodism, Quakerism etc.).
Protestantism is one of the great secrets of the success of the Anglosphere, primarily through the promotion of literacy and individualism. Scottish Protestantism clearly also equally important.
10. The British Empire.
The British Empire was the primary means by which the great achievements of England, Britain and the West were spread to the four corners of the globe.
If I had to pick a Top 3 from the above list, I would say that nothing did more to advance civilisation and lift the world's poor out of poverty and sickness than England's three greatest gifts:
Top 3
1. The Industrial Revolution
2. The spread of capitalism and
3. The British Empire
However, without Protestantism it may have taken far longer for the world to benefit from these - and other countries may have taken the lead on the industrial revolution and capitalism.
These are merely my Top 10. There are of course many other achievements one could list (from the WWW right down to the invention of the suit: the first global standardized dress - and the international dress code of finance).
England can also lay claim to arguably the two most influential figures after Jesus Christ:
Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin
Here's my recent New Culture Forum speech (published yesterday) on this topic:
Happy #StGeorgesDay 🏴
No country has had a greater or more positive impact on the globe
England's Top 10 Gifts to the World - my speech.
Summary:
1. Industrial Revolution: the greatest leap forward in human development in 12,000 years
2. Railways (above and underground): Transformed society. Crucial to the creation of modern nations (India, Canada, USA etc.) and cities
3. Sport: No country created or codified more sports and had a bigger impact on notions of sportsmanship.
This is not a trivial subject. Globally, sport is arguably the greatest source of national pride, identity, unity and social cohesion.
4. Birthplace of the world's two dominant forms of democracy: Westminster Parliamentary democracy but also the roots of American "Presidential" democracy.
Almost every democracy in the world uses one of these two forms.
5. Common Law
6. English language: the world's first true lingua franca (which should now perhaps be renamed "lingua Anglia")
7. English liberty (aka the rights of Englishmen).
English liberty is very different to Greek or Roman liberty. The United States of America was founded upon the principles of English liberty. The concepts have shaped the Anglosphere and much of the world.
8. Capitalism.
The Italians and Dutch were pioneers of early forms of capitalism, but modern "industrial capitalism" was born in the industrial revolution and no one did more than the English & Scots to spread it globally.
The global spread of capitalism has seen the greatest eradication of poverty in human history. In 1820, 94% of the world lived in poverty. Today it is only 9.6%.
9. English Protestantism (Anglicanism, Methodism, Quakerism etc.).
Protestantism is one of the great secrets of the success of the Anglosphere, primarily through the promotion of literacy and individualism. Scottish Protestantism clearly also equally important.
10. The British Empire.
The British Empire was the primary means by which the great achievements of England, Britain and the West were spread to the four corners of the globe.
If I had to pick a Top 3 from the above list, I would say that nothing did more to advance civilisation and lift the world's poor out of poverty and sickness than England's three greatest gifts:
Top 3
1. The Industrial Revolution
2. The spread of capitalism and
3. The British Empire
However, without Protestantism it may have taken far longer for the world to benefit from these - and other countries may have taken the lead on the industrial revolution and capitalism.
These are merely my Top 10. There are of course many other achievements one could list (from the WWW right down to the invention of the suit: the first global standardized dress - and the international dress code of finance).
England can also lay claim to arguably the two most influential figures after Jesus Christ:
Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin
Here's my recent New Culture Forum speech (published yesterday) on this topic:
