Worlds Greatest Ever Civilisation

[namtrak]

Reading the to and fro-ing between ourselves and the hystericans got me to thinking about something Bill Clinton said when he came into power. I remember him saying something along the lines of "It is an honour to be leading the greatest country in the history of mankind", now he may know how to smoke his cigar but I reckon he's got a misunderstanding of world history.

I figure that the yanks have held sway really since WWI - about 90 years. Their landmass amounts to less than 10% of the planet, they own all the guns and money, and they have about 2% of the worlds population. Would that make them the greatest civilization in the history of mankind?

I think the Romans maybe, or the Greeks and Alexander, Incas, British Empire through the Industrial revolution all may challenge that argument.

Any takers?

[echnidna]

nope

[Gumby]

Nope, none of the above. The greatest are the Orange People, led by George Lewin. No contest - we win.

[craigb]

The greatest are the Orange People, led by George Lewin.

I thought Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh was the leader of the Orange People :confused:

[Wongo]

The Chinese without a doubt

[Termite]

The Chinese without a doubt

A totally unbiased opinion of course.

[silentC]

I figure that the yanks have held sway really since WWI - about 90 years

Not even that long. Prior to their entry into WWII, the yanks didn't play a very big part in world politics and didn't even have much of a military. They built all of that up to fight the Japs and Hitler and then after the war looked around and thought, hey this is a pretty big stick we've got here now, let's wave it.

[Wongo]

A totally unbiased opinion of course.

Not wrong.

[simon c]

Not even that long. Prior to their entry into WWII, the yanks didn't play a very big part in world politics and didn't even have much of a military. They built all of that up to fight the Japs and Hitler and then after the war looked around and thought, hey this is a pretty big stick we've got here now, let's wave it.

I agree. I think Britain handed over the "role" after WWII.

[Iain]

The Scots, who even built a scaled down version of the Great Wall of China to keep the poms out, also invented TV, haggis, caber tossing, kilts so men didn't have to iron, golf, shetland ponies, scotch, the toilet seat 'with the hole', and the list goes on.
Sorry Wongo, see your spring roll and raise you a single malt

[simon c]

The Scots, who even built a scaled down version of the Great Wall of China to keep the poms out

Too much single malt there Iain,
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...ian%27s%20Wall

[echnidna]

The Scots, who ... invented ... kilts so men didn't have to iron,

I thought Kilts were invented to speed up the rape, pillage plunder bit....

[Grunt]

I thought Kilts were invented to speed up the rape, pillage plunder bit....

Yup, so much easier for them Vikings to rape and pillage the Scots when they didn't have pull the knickers down.

[silentC]

They also invented the bagpipes and that one feat alone obliterates any brownie points they might have accrued throughout history, including their general belligerence towards the English

I saw a bloke playing the bagpipes on TV the other day. His whole neck was blowing out like a frog's throat. Never seen anything like it. It can't be natural.

[namtrak]

I thought Kilts were invented to speed up the rape, pillage plunder bit....

Yeh the scotsmen figured it would make it easier for the foreign raiders to gain access to their spoils.