Modern History Index

1637 – The world can be described mathematically, in 3 clear dimensions. We can convert geometry into algebra. We can “know” everything. And in my spare time I will revolutionize philosophy too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes

1654 – We can use algebra to fully describe uncertain, probable events. In my spare time, I will contribute to mathematics, physics, chemistry, theology and the scientific method.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

1673 – The world can be understood. Calculus, philosophy, politics, law, library science, music, biology. Newton was greater. Leibniz gets second billing then and now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz

1687 – The world can be understood. Calculus, physics, astronomy, theology, optics, scientific method, alchemy. The reduction of physical forces to a simple equation is the highlight of all science. His legacy is largely misunderstood. He remained religious. He was a mystic and an alchemist. Describing events mathematically did not “explain” them. Aristotle’s emphasis on “final” causes still mattered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton

1734 – The world is dynamic and complex. Yet, we can still describe it mathematically. Let’s describe sets of differential equations. Defining several fields of mathematics. Showing how math can be applied to physics. Perhaps the greatest mathematician of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler

1821 – Carl Gauss competes for the greatest mathematician of all time. Algebra, geometry, connections between subfields, many challenges solved, analysis, topology, non-Euclidean geometry, astronomy, calendars, advances in probability theory, maps, magnetism, optics and mechanics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss

1830 – The earth is not fixed. It evolves through long time as shown in the geological record.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lyell

1847 – We can formalize Aristotelian logic in algebra as ones and zeros. Look out computers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_algebra

1854 – Geometry is an analytical discipline. It is not limited to the simple Greek solids of Euclid. It can be applied to a variety of “spaces”. OMG!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemannian_geometry

1862 – Electricity and magnetism can be described by a set of equations, more complex, but similar to those of Newton describing gravity. We barely understand these phenomena, but the equations can predict how they function. Math and physics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dynamical_Theory_of_the_Electromagnetic_Field

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell

1895 – We can describe an abstract mathematics called “set theory” which describes how individual components relate to the whole. This approach can describe all formal logic. It can potentially serve as the basis for all of mathematics. It begins to fully address the idea of infinity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_theory

1895 – The world is mainly comprised of waves of various lengths. Some wave lengths can be used to “see” within physical objects. We’ll call them X-rays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray

1911 – The atom is much more complicated than we thought. It has a center of protons and neutrons. It has multiple shells of probabilistically present tiny electrons. Atomic particles “disappear” as radioactive decay based on probabilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford

1915 – Everything you thought you knew about the world is false! The speed of light is fixed. There is no physical background space “ether”. Speed of light is a rare constant. Energy and matter are interchangeable. Time and space interact. Time is relative. Space is warped by matter (gravity). In essence, several dimensions of reality cluster, pull, interact, interrelate together in mathematically describable ways. Everything is very connected. I worked the rest of my life to combine the laws of physics, but they did not comply.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

1925 – We’ve digested all of the new theories and experimental results. Everything in the universe is unavoidably probabilistic. Light is wave and particle. Space is relative. Electrons are probably in SPDF circuits. Particles are probably there! Measurements impact reality. Schrodinger’s cat can be dead or live. Spooky action at a distance. We can never really know “for sure”. This is before the exploration of sub-atomic particles which raises many more very difficult questions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics

1927 – The universe was created from a single point in time. Confirmed in 1965.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_background_radiation

1928 – Many decisions can be analyzed as games and optimal strategies defined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory

1931 – We cannot reduce any “robust” mathematics to simple formal logic or set theory. Infinity and other non-reductionist components stand in the way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems

1942 – Power from atomic decay is possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

1947 – A general solution strategy is available to solve optimization problems subject to multiple constraints.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_programming

1960 – We live in a special place. Several physics constants are needed to allow life to exist and evolve. This set of constants is very unlikely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-tuned_universe

1968 – Systems are everywhere. They obey certain laws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory

1975 – There are fractional dimensions everywhere!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benoit_Mandelbrot

Summary

Our universe has a well-defined structure. Observer perspective really matters. Mathematical equations are amazingly powerful. There is no simple deterministic universe. It is probabilistic “turtles all the way down”. Perspective is relative. New mathematical perspectives are impossible to predict and difficult to comprehend.

Modern History: Business & Economics

July 14, 2025July 14, 2025 tomkapostasy1 Comment

1602 – Dutch East India Company, limited liability corporation, global trade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company

1776 – The Wealth of Nations from markets, specialization and trade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith

1817 – Comparative advantage drives international trade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ricardo

1865 – Gilded age economic expansion and inequality in the US, laissez faire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age

1867 – Trade unions legalized in the United Kingdom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_unions_in_the_United_Kingdom

1910 – Scientific management, Frederick Taylor, Taylor method

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management

1911 – Breakup of the Standard Oil Company – anti-monopoly power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Standard_Oil_Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_Co._of_New_Jersey_v._United_States

1913 – Federal Reserve Bank created

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Act

1913 – Industrial assembly line- Ford

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line

1929 – Great Depression

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cycle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

1933 – Securities and Exchange Commission regulates financial markets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_Act_of_1933

1936 – Modern macroeconomics is outlined

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes

1939 – Silicon Valley begins with Hewlett-Packard, product and financing innovation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley

1942 – Creative Destruction is an essential part of effective capitalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter

1947 – Military industrial sector, defense complex created

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

1948 – Japanese companies start modern manufacturing based upon statistical insights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Production_System

1950 – The study of “sequence of events” leads to modern project management.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_project_management

1952 – Henry Markowitz formalizes modern portfolio theory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_portfolio_theory

1955 – Destination theme park travel begins – Walt Disney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Experiences

1955 – Enclosed Shopping Mall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_center

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_mall

1956 – Intermodal shipping container and freight transport

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport

1958 – General purpose credit cards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card

1958 – A meritocratic work environment was dominating, and critics objected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy

1962 – Product and process standardization, franchising take off

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_McDonald%27s

1962 – Discount retailing, big box stores, category killers arise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Walmart

1968 – For profit health care.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HCA_Healthcare

1970 – Income inequality begins to grow again in the US

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States

1971 – Discount air travel, standardized routes and aircraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Southwest_Airlines

1973 – How much is a financial option worth?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black%E2%80%93Scholes_model

1973 – Reliable express delivery is founded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedEx

1974 – Tax-advantaged individual retirement accounts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_retirement_account

1975 – Index funds and mutual funds simplify and lower transaction costs of investing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vanguard_Group

1978 – Executive stock options provide high levels of tax-advantaged compensation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_stock_option

1979 – Monetary policy can stop inflation, at a cost.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker

1980 – Junk bonds provide financing for riskier companies and tools for investors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-yield_debt

1980 – Michael Porter clarifies the effective use of business strategy to compete in markets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_advantage

1984 – Eli Goldratt offers a “theory of constraints” as a way to understand and manage complex systems effectively, leading to true “lean manufacturing” and “lean operations”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints

1994 – On-line retailing, everything is in stock, and available soon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Amazon

2007 – Great Recession highlights the ongoing risks of financial deregulation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession

Summary

Process standardization. Financial innovation. Highly focused strategies. New business forms. Markets and international trade deliver desired products, lower prices and competition. A role for government regulation remains. The macroeconomy can be managed to reduce the impact of business cycles and shocks.

Modern History: International

July 14, 2025July 16, 2025 tomkapostasy1 Comment

1803 – Napoleonic Wars embroil the European continent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars

1814 – Spanish American wars of independence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_American_wars_of_independence

1839 – Opium Wars between China and European powers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

1848 – European popular revolutions due to clashes of old and new, rich and poor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848

1861 – Nationalism drives unification of Italy and Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Italy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany

1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration

1885 – European colonization of Africa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonisation_of_Africa

1898 – Spanish – American War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

1904 – Russo – Japanese War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War

1914 – World War I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

1917 – Russian Revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution

1920 – League of Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations

1933 – Nazi Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany

1933 – Holocaust, Victims of Nazi Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victims_of_Nazi_Germany

1939 – World War II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

1945 – Atomic Bombings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

1945 – United Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Nations

1944 – Bretton Woods Agreement – global monetary and trade policy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_Conference

1947 – Cold War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War

1947 – Indian Independence Movement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_independence_movement

1948 – Marshall Plan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan

1948 – State of Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel_(1948%E2%80%93present)

1949 – NATO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_NATO

1949 – People’s Republic of China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclamation_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

1951 – European Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_European_Union

1954 – Japanese Economic Miracle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_economic_miracle

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis

1973 – Energy Crisis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis

1975 – Vietnam War Ends

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

1979 – US and China normalize relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93United_States_relations#Normalization

1979 – Iranian Revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

1985 – Asian Four Tigers Economic Growth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers

1989 – End of Cold War, Fall of the Berlin Wall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_(1985%E2%80%931991)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Berlin_Wall

1990 – End of South African Apartheid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiations_to_end_apartheid_in_South_Africa

2001 – September 11 Attacks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

2001 – China joins WTO, economic growth accelerates, poverty reduced

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_China_(1949%E2%80%93present)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_reduction

2004 – Enlargement of the European Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union

2014 – Russian Invasion of Ukraine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

Summary

Colonization and de-colonization. Opening of Asia. World Wars. Nuclear threats. International integration. Economic progress. Bipolar, superpower, multipolar world.

Modern History: Society and Religion

July 13, 2025July 16, 2025 tomkapostasy2 Comments

1492 – Columbus reaches the new world. The Columbian exchange begins. The old world has much to reconsider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange

1517 – Martin Luther starts the Protestant Reformation. The Church’s authority is challenged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther

1545 – The Catholic Reformation addresses challenges to the Church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation

1738 – Methodism offers a new relationship to God.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodism

1807 – Britain ends its slave trade after 3 centuries. The abolitionist movements create new views of societal change.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade

1821 – Liberal Christianity adapts to the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, Critical Analysis and Darwin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Christianity

1865 – The American Civil War. Federalism, abolitionists, slavery, Lincoln, warfare, transport, industrialization, government growth, reconstruction, economic recovery, “Lost Cause”, Jim Crow. “A nation divided cannot stand”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

1880 – Community organizations of many kinds are created to manage immigrants, urbanization, industrialization, growth, mobility, diversity, poverty and public health.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_organization

1880 – Peak level migration from Europe to the United States begins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_immigration_to_the_Americas

1886 – Post-impressionism leads to modern art, distanced from the public.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_art

1893 – The American Frontier era closes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_Thesis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_frontier

1899 – American Popular Music emerges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_popular_music

1910 – The “Great Migration” from the South to the North.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American)

1910 – Christian fundamentalism is defined as a real alternative to “liberal Christianity”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fundamentalism

1920 – A majority of Americans live in urban areas. 76% in Northeast, 28% in the South.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_in_the_United_States

1922 – Protestant neo-orthodox theology is defined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth

1922 – Personal psychology, “stream of consciousness” writing joins modern art to insert psychology and philosophy into popular arts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel)

1936 – Self-help books, seminars, programs and counseling blossom, providing an individual, transactional, psychological, positive alternative to religion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help

1940 – US high school attendance reaches 80%, up from 40% in the 1920’s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_movement

1944 – American soldiers enroll in higher education at record rates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Bill

1946 – Returning soldiers also make up for lost time in forming families and having children.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-20th_century_baby_boom

1946 – New families needed new housing, leading to suburban real estate development.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburbanization

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown

1949 – Dystopian fiction packs a much greater punch in the post-war era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_and_dystopian_fiction#Dystopian_fiction

1965 – The Roman Catholic Church addresses modernity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council

1965 – Urban riots erupt in major US cities for several summers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_riots

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_riot

1965 – University students rebel against the expected cultural conformity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s

1965 – Legal and illegal immigration to the United States grows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_immigration_to_the_United_States

1969 – Divorce started to become a more personal, transactional event rather than a social or religious one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-fault_divorce

1969 – LGBTQ groups and supporters advocated for legal and social rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBTQ_history_in_the_United_States

1970 – English becomes the global language for trade, diplomacy and science.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_a_lingua_franca

1976 – The US birth rate drops by half. World rate is cut in half by 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_rate

Summary

The movement from one Church to many Christian denominations to “A Secular Age” is the largest change. The growth of the US from a small colony to a world power and then to an economic, military and cultural superpower is of equal magnitude. Migration westward, northward, inward and to the cities has reshaped American culture. Individualism has grown to become the dominant cultural perspective. The role of laws and social norms in shaping personal behavior has dropped.

Americans have been extraordinarily mobile, joiners, religious, productive, creative, patriotic, pragmatic, skeptical and independent. The country has succeeded as a multi-cultural nation and been a successful exporter of its culture around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_power

Modern History: Philosophy and Politics

July 13, 2025July 16, 2025 tomkapostasy1 Comment

1597 – Nature, data, experiments, inductive reasoning and skepticism are good methods to find truth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon

1637 – Radical doubt. No final ends. Just me. I think, therefore I am. How much can I logically derive from a few irrefutable “first principles”?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes

1648 – We cannot settle religious conflicts by war. We’ll let princes choose for their subjects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia

1689 – The individual exists as a free self to be created. A “social contract” to form a government must respect the individual.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

1755 – The individual is born good, subjective and feeling. Society may threaten the individual.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau

1781 – There is a reasonable moral structure like the “golden rule”. Reason is powerful but limited.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant

1783 – Self-government with limited power is possible and potentially effective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution

1789 – “The people” can overthrow the ancient regime. Governing is a bigger challenge. The “nation” and ideals (liberty, equality, fraternity) are very, very powerful tools.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-clericalism

1790 – The accumulation of wisdom in society’s institutions and history should not be ignored. We should wisely and cautiously conserve these assets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke

1800 – I am not a machine. Nature, feelings, imagination, creativity, art, supernatural, history, exotic, mysterious, unique, heroism, passion, intuition, chivalry, myth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

1807 – History is a separate world force. Thesis, antithesis and synthesis drive the world forward.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel

1843 – The modern individual living his daily life faces big existential challenges that cannot be resolved with certainty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard

1848 – Production techniques drive economic power relations. Revolution of the working class will necessarily occur, resulting in an ideal society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx

1848 – Utilitarian emphasis on pain and pleasure. Liberty as the supreme value. Yet, government actions to reach valuable ends, including redistribution, are also needed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill

1850 – The strong are “naturally” entitled to protect their assets against the claims of the weak.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Darwinism

1878- Practical results matter. Abstract philosophical systems cannot be evaluated in other ways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism

1883 – God is dead. Christianity is a “slave religion”. A few can be the supermen, embracing their powers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche

1890 – Governments, institutions and rational structures can address the challenges of modern civilization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era

1890 – “The people” have high expectations that their “will” will be followed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populism_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populism

1906 – Government regulation is needed in some situations to overcome the shortcomings of “laissez faire” capitalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle

1913 – All of mathematics can be reduced to formal symbolic logic. Everything is logically consistent. All of science and politics and philosophy might also be so structured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica

1915 – The nation is most important. Centralized power is necessary to fulfill the nation’s goals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

1920 – Women have the same political rights as men. Perhaps similar social status.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage

1933 – The government is ultimately responsible for the economic welfare of its people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

1935 – The government is responsible for insuring its citizens against poverty and disability.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States)

1943 – Man freely exists in a universe lacking predetermined meaning. Man can define his own meaning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre

1948 – All humans are “born free and equal in dignity and rights” regardless of “nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights

1961 – Power is the ultimate guide to understanding the world. The powerful exploit others. Opposing this exploitation is the duty of those who understand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-structuralism

1962 – Science is not inherently rational. Major paradigms are determined by groups of scientists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_of_Scientific_Revolutions

1963 – Socially determined roles for women prevent true happiness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feminine_Mystique

1964 – The federal government actively prohibits racial, national and sex discrimination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

1970 – The environment is recognized as a collective asset worthy of conservation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day

1971 – “A Theory of Justice” justifies government actions to limit unfair results. Classical liberals cheer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rawls

1974 – Only a minimal government libertarian state is justified. Touche!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nozick

1974 – A US president was forced out of office for his criminal activities. The transfer of power worked. Confidence in government and institutions was shaken.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_process_against_Richard_Nixon

1980 – A pro-market, socially conservative political party was elected by reframing the terms of the debate away from economic security and inequality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

2017 – The Republican Party increasingly appealed to a coalition of economic winners, social conservatives, libertarians and populists, embracing a transactional, common-sense patriotic nationalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

Summary

“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back” – John Maynard Keynes

Bacon and Descartes provided early alternatives to the prevailing integrated religious worldview. Locke and others outlined the individual based “social contract” theory that provided a basis for the American and French revolutions. The American model continued to inspire while the French model both inspired and frightened. The rational Enlightenment view led to utilitarianism, pragmatism and progressivism plus the reactions of Romanticism, Marx and Nietzsche. Conservative reactions of Burke, Social Darwinism and Fascism also occurred. “Big government” was adopted as a potential positive force by the left as well. Individual rights were increasingly recognized in theory and practice. Post-war existentialism and postmodernism replaced discredited Marxism on the left. The Reagan/Thatcher revolution re-established pro-market and traditional social conservatism as a dominant force. Trump capitalized on the populist themes and media tools of the skeptical post-Watergate era.

Science versus religion. Church and state. Individual and community. Rich and poor. Liberty versus justice. Liberal versus conservative. Populists and elites. State and international politics. What should we do? Who should decide? What is the best structure? How do we protect minority rights? Protect the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The U.S. and Western system of government regulated capitalism, relatively free trade and democratically elected limited government dominated the second half of the twentieth century. In 1992 Francis Fukuyama proclaimed, “The End of History”. This “Western consensus” view is increasingly challenged today.

‘Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’ – Winston Churchill

Good News

… and commentary

Month: July 2025

Modern History Index

Modern History: Biology and Life

Summary

Modern History: Communications and Computers

Summary

Modern History: Technology

Summary

Modern History: Math (and Physics)

Summary

Modern History: Business & Economics

Summary

Modern History: International

Summary

Modern History: Society and Religion

Summary

Modern History: Philosophy and Politics

Summary