3 ms·

But that's what I was saying as well - that civilisational development is not driven by some concept of racial traits, but that it's driven by material conditio

• woodruffw 5y ago
  Yes, I think we're on the same page. Racialized theories of civilization are, on face value, absurd (and, well, racist). GGS goes to significant lengths to debunk them, including thoroughly collapsing the racial categories that colonial and post-colonial Westerners use.
  • edmcnulty101 5y ago
    I don't think they're absurd. Humans are tribal to the core of our being. Race matters, culturally, genetically, and is how we typically organized throughout history and even today. The Irish, French, and British are pretty similar racially but divide pretty significantly on the tiny differences in that race. To cast aside race as an arbitrary characteristic seems inaccurate view of reality. Race is one of the most important attributes that makes us human.
    • chillacy 5y ago
      The question of whether race or location is the causal factor seems to just be different dimensions of the same thing, no? Given that they pretty much correlate though most of history.
      • edmcnulty101 5y ago
        Not if the same race relocates to a different location and has similar outcomes.