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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Storm Raven" data-source="post: 1901096" data-attributes="member: 307">Even in the 15th century, the concepts of personal property were much more developed in the Western world than anywhere else. Many of the concepts of modern property law date from the 15th century or earlier. The concept of the landholding citizen, while prevalent in the West (and dominant in some areas, such as Switzerland, and to a lesser degree Germany and France), never took serious root elsewhere. Even Spain, considered a bastion of aristocratic privilege, had a class of landholding private citizens unheard of in, for example, the Ottoman Empire, or any of the meso-American empires.No, it is a discussion of one of the core elements of what is now Western culture: the importance of the property owning citizen. If you want the full explanation, I can only suggest you read Hansen's book. He explains things far better than I can in a message board post. I think he bogs down in his discussion of the issues surrounding the Tet offensive, but his use of various battles to highlight other elements of Western culture is well-done.Tech development without tech use isn't very interesting. The Chinese did develop gunpowder long before it came into use in the West, but without the cultural incentives that fueled its rise to prominence, it is little more than an intersting toy. Similarly, the Greeks developed the steam engine, but without a cultural system that placed it into a position where it was useful, it is a historical oddity and nothing more. Developing technology is nice, but without exploitation of that technology, you might as well be spending your time painting sea scenes.</blockquote>

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