superpowers, good or bad?

[paulpablo]

Have really big super powerful countries like America, Britain, Rome, Greece been a good thing for humanity or bad thing?
This isn't a philosophical thread that concentrates on what is a good thing or bad thing, you just have to assume that bad = things like people dying, good things = stuff like higher levels of technology and health care and crime prevention.

[Something completely different]

bad.


would like to read arguments that state that they were good.

[Silver]

Bad.

How does the poll work? Toward the question good or bad?

[paulpablo]

Bad.

How does the poll work? Toward the question good or bad?

You have to read the question of the poll and not the question of the thread title then put down yes or no, the question is have they been a good thing, yes would mean they are good no would mean they aren't.

[Rahul]

Hmmm.

I had to think for a while on this.

I would say overall they have benefitted society for technological innovations among other things.

Greece provided the idea of democracy along with architecture, hippocratic oath, philosophy, etc.

Romans brought sanitation, irrigation, public libraries, roads, etc.

Britain brought agricultural & industrial revolutions, mechanical inventions, economics, top notch universities, and was vital in ending slavery in a ton of countries, etc.

America currently provides 31% of the world's global scientific and medical research, educates huge numbers of foreign born students in postdoctoral degrees, and has created such things as powered flight, internal combustion engine, the microchip, etc.

If none of these superpowers had existed we'd probably be grubbing around in flea covered hair hides for a measely 30 years or so before we died from really pathetically easy things we can fix today.

If one or more of these never existed we would not be near as advanced as we are today.

So overall, despite all the fucked up shit that they have all done, I would say they have greatly benefitted humanity.

[paulpablo]

Hmmm.

I had to think for a while on this.

I would say overall they have benefitted society for technological innovations among other things.

Greece provided the idea of democracy along with architecture, hippocratic oath, philosophy, etc.

Romans brought sanitation, irrigation, public libraries, roads, etc.

Britain brought agricultural & industrial revolutions, mechanical inventions, economics, top notch universities, and was vital in ending slavery in a ton of countries, etc.

America currently provides 31% of the world's global scientific and medical research, educates huge numbers of foreign born students in postdoctoral degrees, and has created such things as powered flight, internal combustion engine, the microchip, etc.

If none of these superpowers had existed we'd probably be grubbing around in flea covered hair hides for a measely 30 years or so before we died from really pathetically easy things we can fix today.

If one or more of these never existed we would not be near as advanced as we are today.

So overall, despite all the fucked up shit that they have all done, I would say they have greatly benefitted humanity.

I was thinking along these lines, but then you also have countries which are powerful which do benefit the world scientifically which aren't as imposing and war mongering as America, Britain and Rome have been. But yeh the bottom line is I do agree with what you're saying.

[Rahul]

I was thinking along these lines, but then you also have countries which are powerful which do benefit the world scientifically which aren't as imposing and war mongering as America, Britain and Rome have been. But yeh the bottom line is I do agree with what you're saying.

Agreed. I think it's more the amount of benefits contributed by superpowers. Of course we would still be making progress without them, just not near as much.

[pocaracas]

Maybe those advances would have been made,even if the people who did them didn't live in those countries...
Not applicable to all advances, it's course...but some.

[Anomalocaris]

Have really big super powerful countries like America, Britain, Rome, Greece been a good thing for humanity or bad thing?
This isn't a philosophical thread that concentrates on what is a good thing or bad thing, you just have to assume that bad = things like people dying, good things = stuff like higher levels of technology and health care and crime prevention.

On the whole, overwhelmingly good. The interest of strong powers lies in providing relative peace, stability and ease of commerce to the most economically productive regions under its influence.

Peace and room for development in these regions has benefits to the whole mankind that far outweighs the misery that the periferal wars such powers are likely to engage in.

In any case, without the presence of these strong powers, periferal war would in fact have happen more often, and with deadlier results.

The only exception is the power becomes so dominant that it could decay for a long time and not be replaced by a peer power of comparable level of social, technological and cultural development, such as with Rome and her linger collapse without replacement.

If a power is dominant, but there are other powers waiting in the wings to replace it when it becomes decayed, that would be ideal. Examples include replacement of Hellenistic Greece by Rome, replacement of Britain by America, and now potentially the replacement of America by China.

[Rahul]

Maybe those advances would have been made,even if the people who did them didn't live in those countries...
Not applicable to all advances, it's course...but some.

Possibly. It seems odd though that a superpower usually has only a tiny fraction of the world's population but seems to come up with a much higher percentage of world changing advances than they statistically should.