Author | Acacia Book
Source | Confucius old book network dynamics
I have a "paper book" with nine pages.
With the advent of the new century, politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars, and professors all over the world are looking back on the 20th century that has just passed and looking forward to the new century. The summer issue of the US "Foreign Policy" quarterly magazine published articles by nine famous scholars, asking them to name the new century with their wisdom. Naming is to depict the characteristics of the new century. Editor's note: "It is impossible to understand the present without a little prediction; for the modern world we cannot separate it from the future, as if it were separate from the past." We invited some of the world's most inspiring thinkers with a variety of backgrounds to look back; to interpret the new era we've entered and imagine where it will lead us. Come, let's try to put the present and the future in the annals of history and give this post-Cold War world its own name. ”
The first of the big names invited by Foreign Policy was Francis Fukuyama, who proposed the "end of history." Fukuyama believes that the new century is an era of globalization, and at the same time says that it is "difficult to name" and once again emphasizes "the end of history." In my opinion, world history will not end, nor has it ever ended; the new century will only take off again on the runway of the 20th century. The theory of the "end of history" is a prejudice against international politics and an indifference to the infinite spirit of exploration of mankind. Fukuyama thought that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall were the failure of socialism, or he was careless.
The second author is Jessica Matthews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Matthews clearly proposed that the new century is the "era of the information revolution." "The speed at which information spreads has led to a shift in government power to the market." "When advances in fiber optic technology are able to expand bandwidth to infinity, the cost of sharing no matter how much information is shared, the cost is actually zero." Matthews' views have been validated in our lives. Recently, Facebook's proposed "meta-universe" has filled us with unlimited reverie about the information revolution.
The third author is Martin van Kreveld, a professor of history at the Hebrew University. He sees the new century as a "new medieval era" and that "the most striking process of our time is political division, decentralization, and even eventual disintegration." In less than a month, new countries will appear on the map. "Yes, the 20th century was a patchwork of political hegemony, and when the country fell apart, there were new states re-established by ethnic groups. Is this the automatic correction of intelligent human beings, or is it a failure of the concept of the state? In short, all countries and peoples have the right to decide their own destiny; the constantly changing world map is a sign of the vitality of human society.
"The Age of Open Societies" is the view of George Shoroche. His views are not new, and he still believes that the United States should lead this new century of openness. We see that in the unfolding new century of multilateralism and multiculturalism, Mr. George's views are in fact his arrogance and prejudice. After 9/11, the United States was overwhelmed with itself, so how could it become the captain of the world's ships? The people of each country have the right to decide their own affairs. They need cooperation and friends, but they don't need bellwethers.
The author of the fifth article believes that the new century is an "environmental age". yes. The overexploitation of resources, changes in the global climate, and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather have made people in developed and developing countries attach great importance to environmental issues and introduce relevant laws and regulations, and have practical actions. Like the sun and the moon shining, the heavens and the earth are selfless, climate change, water shortage, environmental pollution, is also "not recognized". People all over the world live on one planet, and the environment knows no borders.
Brian Enno proposes the new century from an economic point of view: "This is a market era, but it is a larger and more inclusive market." Ideas, technologies, products, philosophies, and lifestyles are laid out for scrutiny, trial, abandonment, improvement, or forgetting. Such markets are not constrained by ideology. The value of things is determined by the degree of attention they receive. Money is just one measure of how much attention is being paid to. Baker's Attention Economy elaborates on this view.
Forward-looking words. "If history suggests anything, it's that America's political and economic hegemony will eventually be weakened," the authors say. What happens next? Perhaps we should look to the East for new reasons to name this era. "Twenty years have passed since the new century, and we have seen that the hegemony of the United States is indeed weakening. In international politics, is there a law of mutual elimination? I dare not say. The author said that by looking to the East, we see the huge development potential of ancient and emerging countries.
Reading this feature compiled by Reference News, I learned that the term "Cold War" was coined by the famous journalist Lippmann. The eighth article refers to Lippmann's creation, arguing that the new century is "world peace dominated by capital." The power of capital, which we have seen in real life, is sometimes really aggressive. But I believe that man, and only man, is the master of capital and world peace.
The ninth chapter of Foreign Policy says that the new century is a "transitional period." This is an ambiguous judgment. Each period is a transition to the next. There are no new insights into the last one.
It's my old habit to cut out my favorite newspaper articles. If the newspaper is carrying a continuous feature, the cut article can be bound into a "paper book". Oh, "paper book", when I first heard the word, I was very embarrassed. Slowly, listening more, becoming a habit, writing and saying this myself.
Reading newspaper clippings, others sound like the standard of an "old cadre"; in fact, when I was a "small cadre", I had this habit.
Paper books, e-books, and thus backtracked, there are also stone books (such as the Forest of Steles in Xi'an, the ancient texts and Buddhist scriptures carved in stone at Yunju Temple in Beijing), and wooden books (such as the Han Dynasty Jian Mu). What other "books" will appear in the new century? Let's wait with confidence!
Ploughed and planted, they still read my books, paper books.
