Worlds Greatest Ever Civilisation

[Grunt]

The British Empire ensured that English became the premier world language that it is today.

This isn't actually true. Up until WWII the Lingua Franca was French. The good old U.S. of A. is responsible for English being the most widely spoken language in the world. Most of the younger people in Europe speak English as a second language not because of England but because the U.S. represents a quarter of the worlds economy.

As far as having an effect on the greatest percentage of the worlds population, I'd say that the U.S. wins hands down. Culturally, the U.S. influence is massive. Movies, TV, Music, Speech, Dress etc. are visible in even the most backwater countries.

[craigb]

And not a Roman holiday, either!

So you don't want to zip around Rome on a Vespa with Audrey Hepburn on the back ?

Actually, you do have a certain resemblance to Gregory Peck now that I think about it :eek:

[bitingmidge]

As far as having an effect on the greatest percentage of the worlds population, I'd say that the U.S. wins hands down. Culturally, the U.S. influence is massive. Movies, TV, Music, Speech, Dress etc. are visible in even the most backwater countries.

But there's a Chinese Restaurant in every town in the civilised world, which has got to score China big points!!

Cheers,

P

[silentC]

Most of the younger people in Europe speak English as a second language not because of England but because the U.S. represents a quarter of the worlds economy.

That may be true today but English was pretty common around the globe long before WWII. During that sort of expansive period when Spain, Portugal, France and England were running around putting dibs on the rest of the world, their respective languages were spread with them. For example, most of South America speaks a Spanish or Portuguese derivative and there are the islands that speak French. The poms spread the love on the Sub Continent and in Africa amongst other places. And don't forget that the Yanks speak English (or their version of it) because of the English.

[MathewA]

I guess I've seen and read about another side of the North American Indians that you haven't - they weren't what I would call civilized or environmentally friendly. They were and are just like everyone else no better no worse.

I would like to take a serious tack here (for once).

In my opinion the greatest civilization was that of the American native Indians, over 200 diff tribes living in relative harmony! they had equality between the sexes, inter tribal govts, respect for th elder, little or no diseases, healthy lifestyles, no obesity or fast food, no expansion policy or "savage land stealing policys", a sustainable environmental policy that did not destroy any land or denude any part of the place to the point where the env. was damaged and only fought minor skirmishes amongst eachother, even to the point where only the participants of the skirmishes were the only ones killed. of course they had raiding parties to get wives and horses etc but none of this compared to any of white/yellow/arab mans 'civilized god/cultural fearing actions'

then along came some white f*ck along with his colds, flus, rats, guns, alcohol and greed and screwed the whole joint up in less than 200 yrs. god bless america.
say goodbye to the passenger pigeon, the buffalo and the puma and god knows what else - look at the joint now - dontcha love the atomic bomb ? eh ? toxic waste - delicious!, oil - love it! etc etc...

the indians even coined a phrase that went something like this : "Only after the last tree has been felled, the last buffalo has been eaten and the last river has been drained will the white man realise that you cannot eat money!"

they even had a gunja pipe!!!

I vote for them.

[bitingmidge]

In fact there is plenty of DNA evidence to suggest that a number of American Indians are descendents of..

The Chinese!!!

For more information read "1421" ... a great thesis, tracking the voyages of the Chinese Treasure fleets of the Ming Dynasty.

Some of the bits of evidence tendered apart from the DNA stuff, include the "fact" that elderly Navajo Indians can understand Mandarin, and the names of the Wyoming and Lyoming tribes are a dead set giveaway.

Cheers,

P (Anyone for Sweet and Sour Bison?)

[craigb]

I wonder why the Indians (not the North American ones) haven't had a mention in this thread yet?

Their civilisation is at least as old as the Chinese.

[Gumby]

I wonder why the Indians (not the North American ones) haven't had a mention in this thread yet?

Their civilisation is at least as old as the Chinese.

Simple, their spinners are chuckers.........

[Iain]

But the curries are good
Gungadin the Apache (and as I saw in a backwoods US newspaper 'here are some pictures of the Tajma Hall')

[simon c]

As far as having an effect on the greatest percentage of the worlds population, I'd say that the U.S. wins hands down. Culturally, the U.S. influence is massive. Movies, TV, Music, Speech, Dress etc. are visible in even the most backwater countries.

That would have to be the chinese as 25% of the world are chinese.

[simon c]

I wonder why the Indians (not the North American ones) haven't had a mention in this thread yet?

Their civilisation is at least as old as the Chinese.

Good point:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...s+civilization

[Rocker]

Grunt,

I can't agree with you about the respective influence of the Brits and Americans in spreading English around the world. The American influence is relatively recent, since the advent of film and TV in the mid-20th Century. The British were spreading English around the world, especially in North America, India and Africa, and the Commonwealth countries, throughout the 17th to 20th Centuries. The American influence is mainly felt by people who learned English originally through the British influence, and who were therefore an audience for American films and TV. Before WWII, the Americans generally stayed in America, apart from a few imperial forays into places like the Phillipines, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa, and their culture had little effect on the rest of the world.

Rocker

[Bob Willson]

And .... The official national language of India is ..................English

[bitingmidge]

and their culture had little effect on the rest of the world.

Let's face it, there's more culture in a tub of yoghurt!!

Cheers,

P (who usually uses that line to describe Melbourne.)

[Iain]

But that has to be attributed to Peter Sellersbirdie num num