If the United States didn't exist, would the world be a better place to live?
If the United States didn't exist, would the world be a better place to live?Not likely. Maybe even the opposite would be true. The United States is not the only nation; and certainly not the only one which has done questionable things. Indeed, the United States might actually be one of the better nations, if not the best nation for the world because of its general openness about its own faults and problems.The United States became a true actor on the world stage during World War I. It likely would have still become a world power without WWI; however, that would have occurred several decades later. It became the dominant world power following World War II, if for no other reason than it had not suffered serious harm to its infrastructure and had lost fewer men in the war. Being the first nuclear power was also important; though, not really as important as being able to still field a strong military supported by strong industry.Prior to World War I, and for at least a century or more prior, Great Britain was the dominant world force. If you like the turmoil and problems in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and, more so, the Middle East you can thank Great Britain, and to a lesser extent, France and Germany. Their meddling in affairs and cultures of the people living there and theft of their resources really did not put those areas of the world on a path of peace and prosperity. Subjugating other countries and areas of the world was a British specialty for a couple of centuries. Hence the name British Empire. While the U.S. certainly meddles in other countries affairs it doesn’t pretend to rule them.
Would the world have been better off if the Moors beat the Franks at Tours?
Possibly it would have created a very liberal form of Islam. The great civilizations in Spain and India give merit to the theory that whenever political Islam got away from the fanatical vision of Arabia it blossomed. But honestly....The Moors that invaded France had so little interest in the country that they would have never conquered it. The battle of Tours was with half-hearted anyway.
What would the world be like if Hitler never existed and the Holocaust never happened?
WWII would still have occurred. Hitler was simply a rhetorician who was able to persuade the Germans that things could be better, and tapped into the exasperation felt after the Treaty of Versailles placed impossible conditions on the Germans. These meant that when the Stock Market crashed and the World entered the depression, Germany had hyperinflation, and generally things went down the Thomas J. Another person would have filled his place. As for the World, I actually think it would be worse off. Anti-semitism, although being far from dead today, is nowhere near as prominent as it was in the 1930's. Whether Germany was divided or not would depend on the person who replaced Hitler (if he didn't make the mistake of Operation Barbossa (attacking Russia) Germany could well have won) The U.S's power wouldbe nowhere near as great. Although they were poor after the War it was nowhere near the same level as the Europeans who had been continually bombed. It was more a relative affluence that grew into a real difference overtime. Hope this helps (I love counter factual History)
Would the world be better if there was no America?
You know, I'm tempted to write a flippant response. But a lot of people think like this.The answer is an unequivocal “no”.Oh, don't get me wrong. The US isn't perfect. We've made some very bad decisions, and a lot more questionable ones.But the US is probably the nicest hegemonic power there's ever been. The US Constitution has been a model for many societies looking for a less authoritarian government. US military strength prevents a lot of wars. (Do you hit a guy when his huge, well muscled MMA fighter friend is right around the corner?) The US military provides disaster relief and protection to shipping lanes throughout the entire world. US innovations have increased standards of living worldwide.Imperfect? Absolutely. Made some really bad calls and done some really bad things? You bet. Better off without it? No way.
How might the blues be different if slavery had never existed?
If the first Blacks had arrived in the US on the same terms as other immigrants, they would have had the same educational opportunities, and many of them who were interested in music would have learned to read from stave and probably studied traditional harmonic theory. This means their music would have been more complex (reading music lets you write more complex pieces) and would probably have been more harmonically sophisticated (as Black composers got access to the musical discoveries of Bach, Haydn, and Quantz). As it was, Blacks were poor and uneducated - so their music stayed simple, mainly improvised, and made up for its harmonic poverty with rhythmic sophistication. Or it did so at first. After the Civil War and Emancipation, Blacks did begin to get access to proper musical education. The immediate result was Ragtime (a sophisticated and harmonically complex form), followed soon after by Jazz. So if Blacks had been granted civil rights earlier - Ragtime and Jazz would have evolved alongside Blues much earlier too. But neither Ragtime nor Jazz killed off the Blues (Hollywood Musicals and Tin Pan Alley never killed off Country Music either) - so it is probable that the Blues would have evolved in approximately its modern form in any case. It wouldn't have been the main Black music for so long, but it would probably have stayed around the poor people - whatever you threw at it. If Blacks had never been oppressed, Blues would probably have become a niche music (as Country and Western has). Blues is a World Music. Country and Western is pretty much local to the US. Without slavery, the Blues might have been as marginalised as Taylor Swift.
Will religious pluralism ruin the United States?
This country was founded on religious pluralism. The First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a "national" religion and, by extension, from promoting one religion over the other. As people immigrate to this country, they might maintain the faiths of their homelands, but eventually they or their descendants become Americanized culturally. As the variety of viewpoints increases, so does the variety and quality of ideas, and that will help the country to continue to prosper. Ask yourself: Would we be better off if the government prohibited all religions except Christianity? And if the government endorsed Christianity, which variety should it select? Catholicism? Protestantism? And if the government selected Protestantism, which denomination should it choose? Also, most of the debate about immigration to the U.S. these days is focused on Latin America, especially Mexico. The vast majority of Mexicans are Christian Catholics. The best approach, I believe, is to live your life as best you can -- and let others live theirs according to their own choosing. The main rule is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If everyone followed that, there'd be no more war.