Channel 4 - Civilization: Is the West History S01E04 (WS PDTV XviD-FTP)

Channel 4 - Civilization: Is the West History (2011)



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Niall Ferguson asks why it was that Western civilization, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century, came to dominate the rest of the world; and if the West is about to be overtaken by the rest.

Ferguson reveals the 'killer apps' of the West's success - competition, science, the property owning democracy, modern medicine, the consumer society and the Protestant work ethic - the real explanation of how, for five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion's share of the earth's resources.

Ferguson's conclusions are surprising and provocative. He reveals that while the killer apps have finally been downloaded by the rest, in the process Western civilization has lost faith in itself. And it is that loss of self-belief that poses the biggest threat to its continued predominance.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history

Part 4: Medicine

Niall Ferguson looks at how late 19th-century advances in modern medicine made it possible to export Western civilization to the 'Dark Continent': Africa. The French Empire consciously set out to civilize West Africa by improving public health as well as building a modern infrastructure. Yet in other European empires - notably Germany's in southwest Africa - colonial rule led to genocide. What was the link from medical science to racial pseudo-science? The imperialists talked of their civilizing mission, but their rivalry ultimately caused world wars that endangered the West's global dominance. Today, have Western aid agencies learned lessons from the past? Or is China in the process of building a new African empire?

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Technical Specs
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Release Name : Civilization.Is.The.West.History.S01E04.WS.PDTV.XviD-FTP

Air Date : 27 March 2011
FTP Release Date : 27 March 2011
Video Format : PDTV
Video Resolution : 624 X 352
Audio Stream : 128kbs ish VBR MP3
Release Size : 350MB
Genre : Documentary
Broadcast Channel: CHANNEL 4