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Just think about this. More books were created in the twentieth century than in all previous centuries combined. Heck, more books were created in the nineteenth century than all previous centuries combined. Why do you think that is? The industrial revolution. The emergence of fossil fuel technology also freed up a lot of people.
I think we can agree on one point though. Just because things have been done a certain way doesn't mean they should continue to be done that way. Most people seem to have a teleological view of history. They believe we are where we are today because of a continuous line of progress throughout history. This is not true at all. There have been two regimes in world history, the solar energy regime and the fossil fuel regime. Before coal technology all nations were subject to the Malthusian constraints. The world economy was base in the Indian Ocean world all the way into the 1830's. Europe did develop fossil fuel technology, but that had more to do with contingency than necessity. In Europe, there are lots of rivers and coal was near the surface. In china and India, there weren't many rivers and coal was deep underground. Initial steam engines were too inefficient to be used in industry and coal was too heavy to be transported over land, most of which was unpaved. In europe, however, coal mines were usually near rivers. They could stick the coal in a barge and sail it down river. Overtime people tinkering in their garages were able to perfect the technology, and wala, the fossil fuel regime was born. It also helped that in Great Britain they kicked all the peasants off the lands through the Enclosure Acts. This enabled them to consolidate land and use it for dedicated purposes; it also created excess labor. In China and India no such things happened.
It must also be remembered that potential of an economy is measured by its energy source. A fossil-fueled powered tractor can do more work than a 100 human beings. This is also where most capitalists err. They think that the most important thing is capital, whereas physicists and environmental historians know that the most important thing is energy.
My point? Most of us have an ideological viewpoint of history, I would say even eurocentric. This influences our viewpoints towards many of our institutions, makes us unquestioning and falsely attribute Western Culture to many achievements that were actually a result of contingency. That is why i try never to be complacent towards any idea.
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