despite this might be a bit populist, no doubt thought process would be brilliant! Niall Ferguson: why the West is now in decline - Telegraph

Niall Ferguson: why the West is now in decline - Telegraph:

Despite this might be a bit populist, no doubt Niall's thought process would be brilliant!

tune in/set your sky+ or watch online now: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history/4od#3170212

"In my new book and series, I argue that what distinguished the West from the Rest – the mainsprings of global power – were six identifiably novel complexes of institutions and associated ideas and behaviours. For the sake of simplicity, I summarise them under six headings: 1. Competition 2. Science 3. Property rights 4. Medicine 5. The consumer society 6. The work ethic.
To use the language of today’s computerised, synchronised world, these were the six killer applications – the killer apps – that allowed a minority of mankind originating on the western edge of Eurasia to dominate the world for the better part of 500 years.
This is of more than purely historical interest. For it is only by identifying the causes of Western ascendancy that we can hope to estimate with any degree of accuracy the imminence of our fall.
My conclusion is that we are already living through the twilight of Western predominance. But that is not just because most of the Rest have now downloaded all or nearly all of our killer apps. It is also because we ourselves have lost faith in our own civilisation."