ABSTRACT
I don’t think that I am up to doing the twentieth century in the same terms that you have read the nineteenth century, if you have followed me this far. But I am willing to hazard an epilogue to the twentieth century. Chu en Li was probably right when he answered what he thought about the French Revolution by saying “it’s too early to tell.” But with another half century of historical perspective since then, it seems safe to suggest that the French Revolution will appear as a blip in History, which had very little consequence, if any. When Gandhi a few years earlier is said to have responded to a question about Western civilization with the answer, “It would be a good idea,” he was probably exaggerating. With another half century of historical perspective and a bit more evidence on how good an idea Western civilization would really be, it appears that having some more of that civilization would be even more disastrous for the world than what we have already had.
