"Most of my classmates must not have read my new book," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile. "Let me tell you a historical story first. About 400 years ago, the emperor of the Aztec Empire in America sent the navigator Columbus
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, a new continent called Europe was discovered. In the next two hundred years, the Aztec Empire sent colonial troops and launched a bloody colonial massacre in Europe..."
The students were immediately confused by these few sentences and began to reflect on whether they had learned fake history.
Finally, one student couldn't hold it in anymore and stood up without even raising his hand and shouted: "Mr. Zhou, you are wrong. Columbus was a European. What he discovered was the New World of America, and it was Europe that colonized and massacred the Americas."
"Oh, is it so?"
Zhou Hexuan smiled doubtfully and asked: "Then why did Europeans go to America to colonize, rather than Americans to colonize Europe?"
A student immediately answered: "Because Europe is more advanced than the Americas. When Europe embarked on its great voyages, it was about to enter the era of industrial civilization, while the Americas were still primitive agricultural societies."
Zhou Hexuan seemed to be puzzled by this and asked more thoroughly: "In ancient times, the starting points of civilizations of ancient humans scattered around the world should be similar. But why didn't America enter industrial civilization first?"
"Because..." The student was speechless and didn't know how to answer.
"Then let me ask again," Zhou Hexuan continued, "If human history could be repeated, is there any possibility that the Americans or Africans would be the first to develop industrial civilization and colonize Europe and Asia?"
The student hesitated: "It's...possible."
"It is absolutely impossible. Even if we go back in time, only Europeans or Asians can take the lead in entering the industrial age, and then carry out colonial massacres in the Americas, Australia and Africa," Zhou Hexuan said categorically. "This is what my new book "Guns, Guns, and Guns" said.
"Bacteria and Steel", the main content to be described."
A female student raised her hand and asked weakly: "Mr. Zhou, is it because Europeans and Asians are smarter?"
"Of course not," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile. "Compared from the moment of birth, all races in the world actually have similar IQs. But why did the world develop into what it is now? And will it inevitably develop into what it is now? Text
, system, technology...these factors are irrelevant, the most important thing is the development of agriculture."
The students in the audience showed puzzled expressions and listened quietly to Zhou Hexuan's words.
Zhou Hexuan continued:
"If human society wants to develop and reproduce, the prerequisite is to survive. And the way to survive is nothing more than fishing, farming, hunting and nomadic means. In ancient times, humans rarely settled down and lived and reproduced in a certain place for a period of time.
, it was necessary to migrate in order to obtain more abundant food sources. But agriculture changed everything. The development of agriculture brought about settlement. Settlement was a very important foundation, which greatly improved the ability of primitive humans to fight against nature. In addition to settlement,
Domestication of plants and animals, plants being domesticated into grains, and animals being domesticated into poultry and livestock, are the basis for the development of human society.
Why do I say that even if we could go back in time and do it again, it would still be the Europeans and Asians who took the lead in developing industrial civilization?
Let’s look at animals first. There are 14 known species of large domesticated animals today, 13 of which appear in Eurasia, including cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, etc. As for the Americas, it’s very bad. There is only one species.
It's called an alpaca.
By the way, there are no horses in the Americas. The horses now in the Americas are the descendants brought by Europeans. Cattle can be used for farming, and horses can be used for war and transportation, which greatly improves production efficiency. For Americans,
He said that they did not have horses and cattle, so they were inherently inferior to Europeans and Asians.
Second is plants. Domesticating plants is so critical. Nowadays, both in the East and the West, the staple food is plants. America and Africa are also very bad in this regard.
From the world map, we can see that Eurasia is a horizontal continent with little climate difference. Under primitive farming conditions, domesticated plants in Eurasia can spread very quickly. America and Africa, on the other hand, are vertical
The continent has very different climates at different latitudes. Mexico and the United States are now close to each other, but it took three thousand years for Mexican corn to spread to North America, and it also relied on the development of agricultural technology. In the primitive agricultural era, it was impossible for corn to spread in North America
Planted on a large scale.
From this we can conclude that Eurasia has inherent advantages. The domestication of animals and plants allowed Eurasian humans to settle and develop complex social systems. A large number of people were freed from primary labor and had the energy and time to develop technology.
, words create guns and steel, reaching the lead step by step.
Why did I mention bacteria in the book? It has something to do with animals. The ancestors of Eurasian humans domesticated various animals and stayed with these animals for a long time. They became accustomed to the germs on animals and greatly improved their resistance to these bacteria.
Immunity is also inherited. When European colonists conquered the Americas, they relied not only on advanced weapons, but also on the germs they brought with them. These germs were intractable to the Americans, and they had never encountered them for generations.
Immediate illness upon contact, often death..."
Zhou Hexuan spoke for half an hour, and the students in the audience suddenly understood, and they all felt like they could see the sun through the clouds.
In the past, the history they read was the history of a certain dynasty, a certain country, and a certain nation, but what Zhou Hexuan is talking about today is the history of the entire human race.
"Mr. Zhou, according to you, both Europeans and Asians have advantages. Why is China lagging behind Europe now?" A student suddenly asked.
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "This is a good question. The advancement of Eurasia is a historical necessity, but the backwardness of the Chinese is an accident of necessity. This involves the geographical location of East Asia, as well as the influence of culture and system. But China is inevitable
It will be revived again, because China has a very deep heritage, and no one can lose everything in one or two hundred years. For the specific discussion, you can read my new book, I will not go into detail."
The student from before stood up again and said: "Mr. Zhou, you haven't answered my question yet, why do you advocate dictatorship?"
Zhou Hexuan smiled slightly: "This classmate, that is just my personal academic opinion. You can choose not to believe it. Moreover, I am not calling for dictatorship. What I advocate is democratic centralism. As for the freedom and democracy you pursue, if you have the chance,
You can go to European and American countries and observe the people at the bottom there. When you see their living conditions, you will know what kind of democracy is present in Europe and the United States. It is the democracy of capitalists and politicians and has nothing to do with ordinary people.
