Anther Comment-Comment on Father’s Permission to Marry
In England, parental consent historically was not necessary for their children to marry. This was changed by the 1753 Marriage Act which required parental consent. It only applied until age 21 and didn’t apply to Scotland. (Scotland back then was the equivalent of Nevada.)
This independence in England is elaborated in Macfarlane, Alan, Individualism, Capitalism and the Modern World.
I understand that you’re trying to summarize 70k years simply, but I wonder if needs to be supplemented by descriptions of great leaps forward. The classical Greeks invented epic poetry, philosophy, medicine, anatomy, statutory that embodied anatomy, democracy (limited), and improved metallurgy. Romans came up with reinforced concrete , great roads, aqueducts. 18rth Century England developed coaching roads and canals. What about the Norse whose ships, navigation, and weapons allowed them to colonize the North Atlantic? The Polynesians’ catamarans and navigation allowed them to populate the Pacific Islands. The steam engine, developed in the early 1880’s in England, was continually improved in the 1800’s.
Is your counterargument “All this is nice, but the vast majority still lived on the subsistence level and shoveled shit.”
Anther Comment-Comment on Father’s Permission to Marry
In England, parental consent historically was not necessary for their children to marry. This was changed by the 1753 Marriage Act which required parental consent. It only applied until age 21 and didn’t apply to Scotland. (Scotland back then was the equivalent of Nevada.)
This independence in England is elaborated in Macfarlane, Alan, Individualism, Capitalism and the Modern World.
I understand that you’re trying to summarize 70k years simply, but I wonder if needs to be supplemented by descriptions of great leaps forward. The classical Greeks invented epic poetry, philosophy, medicine, anatomy, statutory that embodied anatomy, democracy (limited), and improved metallurgy. Romans came up with reinforced concrete , great roads, aqueducts. 18rth Century England developed coaching roads and canals. What about the Norse whose ships, navigation, and weapons allowed them to colonize the North Atlantic? The Polynesians’ catamarans and navigation allowed them to populate the Pacific Islands. The steam engine, developed in the early 1880’s in England, was continually improved in the 1800’s.
Is your counterargument “All this is nice, but the vast majority still lived on the subsistence level and shoveled shit.”
Allen Kamp
Used to write long, thoughtful critiques of The Economist, but now I just point everyone to this deliciously aged piece from James Fallows: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/1991/10/-quot-the-economics-of-the-colonial-cringe-quot-about-the-economist-magazine-washington-post-1991/7415/