The cultures of the world display a seemingly vast array of different traits… we have cultural…
- greatness
- sophistication
- exquisiteness
- innovation
- jocularity
- historiographicality
- sensuality
- perfectionism
- vibrancy
- malevolence
- benevolence
- dynamism
- astuteness
- sociability
- Etc. Etc.
The First World is arguably a collective of successful cultures who possess the traits of greatness, dynamism and astuteness.
“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
John F. Kennedy
“Our problems are man-made therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings”
JFK
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
JFK
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
JFK
The concept of the Western world originates from Ancient Greece and Rome, generally considered the birthplaces of Western civilisation. The rise of Christianity is what ultimately led to the spread of the Western orthodoxy, Judaism also having influenced our outlook to a lesser extent. Christianity, for its part, was shaped by Hellenistic philosophy and Roman culture. Christian mores, the Hellenistic philosophy, and the Roman cultural legacy are therefore inextricably adhered within the foundation of the Western world. Ancient Greece flourished first, blessing us today with our traditions of philosophy, democracy, science, aesthetics and architecture. This would also propel Ancient Rome, which would then go on to give rise to a legacy of art, law, warfare, governance, republicanism, engineering and religion that we have all since assimilated, moreover. Since classical antiquity, modern Western culture has also been profoundly shaped by the Renaissance, the Ages of Discovery and Enlightenment and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions. Really, it all started in Ancient Greece, was fleshed out by Rome, was spread through Christianity, and expertly garnished by the aforementioned developments like the Renaissance.
The human race is very ambitious and the global political stage so very competitive in the race for advancement. Yet ultimately, it is clearly only possible for cultures with strong legacies of cultural dynamism, greatness and astuteness to attain the state of “development”. Since the rise of the developed world, a certain toxic discrepancy has emerged between the prospering world and the rest. Economic development has been achieved by the minority, who are nonetheless suffocating and subjugating the majority. The level of prosperity and greatness we have achieved over the past century in particular is so extreme that it stuns the rest of the world into a form of paralysis. Most of them aren’t dynamic and materialistic and do not share those corresponding appetites of ours, but they still struggle in grappling with the discrepancy. Before the inevitable paralysis-induced deprivation is even dealt with, the overwhelmment alone caused by observation of the discrepancy creates an atmosphere dark enough to chill the spine. It’s not jealousy that they suffer from, nor even embarrassment or disappointment or competitiveness or whatever, but it’s those sparkles in our eyes, our enchanting effervescence, our auras of radiance that just get them.
We are crippling them, and it is unforgivable even though we don’t mean to do it. At the end of the day, as I am devoted to exploring in this project, they actually all have their own substantial, pivotal patrimonies to defend and preserve – even the Papua New Guinean cannibals, as prominent Blockfuls, descended from the free-thinking first humans to leave Africa. Many of them can’t come and play with us to fill the void or they risk tearing apart their own cultural legacies, pivotal as they all technically are – going by primary language family.
Why can’t we see that our antics are killing or stifling them? Our visions are being clouded by something. By someone’s legacy, that of US President John F. Kennedy, in office from 1960 until his notorious assassination in 1963.
He was an inspiring liberal who strove for equal rights, enhanced civil rights legislation, global peace, human rights, and even sought to place the arts in a central position within society. He governed for only three years before he was assassinated, but his liberal capitalist vision was so phenomenally potent that Americans continue to coast on it obliviously. Many aspects of contemporary American society we are so familiar with today arose out of this political vision of his. He was assassinated for a reason, and that reason was fear and resentment with regard to the potency of his vision and leadership. Who knows what would have happened for us all if he hadn’t died so prematurely? Overwhelming to consider.
The most “major” thing there could ever possibly be? JFK’s legacy.
The Buzz-Concept Project 