Week 2, Monday

Class today was concerning the concept of "high culture" or "elitist culture". It is fascinating to me that the Industrial Revolution can (and should) be described in such particular terms. The Industrial revolution has not yet hit every country and people group fully. The Industrial Revolution is only about 200 years old. I too often assume that everyone knows what it is like to live in a place where the goods for every day life are mass produced and readily available to the majority of the society. This is not the case for millions of people and we do well to remember that the society we have built is a new concept and a fragile one at that. Most human beings have no time to consider "high culture" as they are too busy trying to survive. I have heard a seminar that spoke of the reasons that some countries are poor and others are not. The main point was this: some countries have experienced the Industrial Revolution and/or traded directly with those who have experienced it; others have not. The poverty/wealth divide has nothing to do with intelligence or capability, but only with historical accident. What a grandiose mystery that we would just happen to be born on the wealth side of things.