Re: virus: Number Games by John Derbyshire

From: Andy Brice (andyb1@btclick.com)
Date: Sun Jul 21 2002 - 15:50:08 MDT


>...It so happened that the first nation to conquer infant mortality, and so
to
generate the resulting demographic tsunami, was Britain - a nation
with a long, strong tradition of law, rights, justice, and liberty. That
tremendous surge of population gave Victorian Britain the manpower,
and the energy, to dominate the world for decades. ...

I think this whole passage is based on dubious assumptions. What made
Britain powerful was the Industrial revolution, not a sudden increase in its
population.* The Victorians were able to use their superior technology and
organisation to subjugate and use the human and material resources of much
more populous nations, e.g. India.

Kenya has one of the fastest growing populations in the world. Its impact on
the rest of the world militarily, economically and culturally is minimal as
far as I am aware.

Andy Brice

*Perhaps the increase in, population was due to the industrial revolution. I
don't know.



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