{"id":30713,"date":"2023-02-02T13:21:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T21:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30713"},"modified":"2023-02-02T13:21:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T21:21:06","slug":"a-long-preamble-to-our-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-long-preamble-to-our-present\/","title":{"rendered":"A Long Preamble to Our Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Jeffrey Sachs’ book, The Ages of Globalization<\/em>, the entire history of globalization is traced from the Paleolithic Age up to our Digital Age in the twenty-first century. The challenges and possible solutions we face today are provided in the last two chapters. The book was published in 2020 and its subject falls in categories of world history, globalization, and because of its solutions provided, international affairs.<\/p>\n

It was surprising that Sachs goes so far back in time to talk about globalization. Some books begin with the Age of Exploration and the subsequent European Colonialism as the launching point to talk about Globalization. Some books characterize World War I as the starting line; still others with the international order created after World War II. But Sachs takes the long view and examines the prehistorical eras that humanity has traveled\u2014and how each age builds upon the next. Like the beginning of a James Michener novel, Sachs starts his book at the dawn of human history with our species hunting and gathering in Africa; then he proceeds with the great exodus out of Africa, and then the subsequent human dispersion across the globe. By going all the way back to the beginning, Sachs challenges the modern notion that globalization is a recent development. His thorough research and hyperopia imply to the reader that we cannot see our modern world without taking the distant past into consideration. Human history is on a trajectory and we must look at the past\u2014even the past from 10,000 years ago. From this vantage point, Sachs’ book reminds me of Jared Diamond\u2019s best seller, Guns, Germs, and Steel.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sachs organizes his material by categorizing world history into seven ages. These are: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Equestrian, Classical, Ocean, Industrial<\/em>, and finally our present-day age, Digital<\/em>. As with all categorizing of world history, the demarcation lines can be fuzzy. He does a great job of characterizing each age so the reader can follow his reasoning and understand how each age was an outgrowth of what came before. He contends, \u201cHumanity has always been globalized, since the dispersals of modern humans from Africa some seventy thousand years ago\u201d (p. 1).<\/p>\n

At the centrum of each age, Sachs examines the factors that shape and propel humanity forward. \u201cUnderstanding the interplay of geography, technology, and institutions is fundamental to understanding human history\u201d (p. 1). At the onset, I was dubious that going as far back as the Paleolithic Age to discuss our modern, globalized world is necessary and Sachs was stretching the idea of globalization<\/em>. But he puts forth a convincing argument when he discusses the nature of language and how that brings people together or pushes them apart. The development of sophisticated language, coupled with the spreading out of homo sapiens<\/em> across all continents is rightfully called the dawn of globalization.<\/p>\n

The Neolithic Age<\/em> can likewise be explained in terms of furthering the idea of globalization. The technology that makes agriculture possible and the sharing of that information among people groups assisted in the success and continued spreading of human civilization. In the Equestrian Age<\/em> Sachs examines the political organization of villages and the first states. This creates powerful cultures that can dominate other people groups. This was also the advent of written language becoming accessible for the masses. Along with metallurgy and the domestication of the horse, writing propelled the move forward towards globalization.<\/p>\n

In the Classical Age<\/em>, we find the pace increasing: roads, trade, sailing, increased political organization, and most crucially, military activity on a scale that has not yet been seen. The Ocean Age<\/em>, covers the time period of 1500-1800 and the pace of development, population growth, and innovation continues to quicken. Sachs succinctly touches on all the high points in each of these ages. Among the achievements of this era was the advent of capitalism and its ability to lift people out of poverty.<\/p>\n

The Industrial Age<\/em> picks up next and he touches on energy (fossil fuel), communication (telegraph, telephone), warfare sophistication, agriculture innovations, the list goes on as the pace increases. Finally, we arrive at the Digital Age<\/em> and the world becomes familiar to me. I know this history well but Sachs continues his economical yet accurate explanations of important developments.<\/p>\n

After all these history lessons, Sachs points a way forward to help our present-day world navigate the problems we face. The last chapter of the book is entitled, Guiding Globalization in the Twenty-First Century<\/em> and three challenges are outlined. These are: rising inequality, environmental degradation, and geopolitical upheaval. I would have placed more emphasis on the geopolitical factors than Sachs did. His treatment felt like a cursory glance instead of an in-depth analysis. His five solutions also sounded a little hollow: sustainable development, social-democratic ethos, subsidiarity, a reformed United Nations, and diversity. All five of these solutions involve the political sphere and more emphasis on this would have been appropriate.<\/p>\n

Another book we read this semester that speaks to this subject of globalization is Western and Garcia\u2019s, Global Leadership Perspectives<\/em>. Both books take a step back and look at the complexities of our world and try to help the reader find clarity. Even, The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> by Joseph Campbell sheds light on globalization for us.<\/p>\n

When God spoke to Job, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the earth\u2019s foundation? Tell me, if you understand\u201d (Job 38:4), Job had no answer for God. But with all of human history laid out for us neatly in books like this, we can better see God\u2019s hand in human history than Job ever could. We can see the arc of humanity\u2019s development and God\u2019s plan for creation better now than any generation that has come before. It is a high privilege just to be alive today and to understand the things we can know just by a google search or reading a book like this one provided by Jeffrey Sachs: \u201cThe successive ages of globalization have expanded out outlook and our interdependence. We have learned to think globally\u201d (p. 31).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Jeffrey Sachs’ book, The Ages of Globalization, the entire history of globalization is traced from the Paleolithic Age up to our Digital Age in the twenty-first century. The challenges and possible solutions we face today are provided in the last two chapters. The book was published in 2020 and its subject falls in categories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2568],"class_list":["post-30713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-sachs","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30714,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30713\/revisions\/30714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}