Oklahoma public high-school history teacher Charles Burris is grading a final tonight. Here is the exam:

WORLD HISTORY SURVEY

Semester Final Examination (300 Points)

Summary Statement: History As A Race Between Social Power and State Power

Economist and historian Murray N. Rothbard described history as a race between Social Power (the creative economic productivity which makes civilization possible by the peaceful exchange of goods and services) versus State Power (the coercive and parasitic seizure of this economic production) – a draining of the fruits of society for the benefit of a few.

Social Power = Civilization. Society is based on peaceful cooperation.

State Power = Government. The State is fueled by violence and coercion.

From the beginning of recorded history, every State has maintained an oligarchy – the rule by an elite.

This elite has consisted of a full-time State apparatus – the rulers, nobles, politicians, and bureaucrats who man and operate the State; and the groups of the larger society who have maneuvered to gain special privileges, subsidies, and benefits from the State.

Yet it was tyranny, exploitation, stagnation, fixed caste, hopelessness, and starvation for the bulk of the population who made up the greater portion of Society.Life was, in the words of political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, “nasty, brutish and short.” Century after century, this was the reality of world history.

Then a series of cataclysmic revolutions blasted away the grip of the old ruling classes: the English revolutions of the 17th century, the American Revolution and French Revolution of the 18th – all of which were necessary to the ushering in of the Industrial Revolution and of at least partial victories for individual liberty, constitutional government, laissez-faire capitalism, separation of church and state, and international peace.

Three great ideologies or political/economic belief systems emerged from these revolutions.

From the French Revolution’s cry for “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” came Liberalism, Collectivism, and Nationalism.

As we will see, the rise of these three movements in the 19th century set the stage for major conflict in the 20th century.

It was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose writings so influenced the French Revolution, who first announced that human beings could be transformed for the better by the political process, by social engineering. This idea would have fatal consequences for millions in the 20th century.

After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s attempt to establish a universal empire throughout Europe, the 19th century was relatively peaceful on that continent.
“History is the memory of states,” wrote the modern Machiavellian diplomat Henry Kissinger in his book, A World Restored, where he proceeded to tell the history of 19th century Europe from the viewpoint of the leaders of Austria and England; ignoring the millions who suffered from those statesmen’s policies.

From his standpoint, the “peace” that Europe had before the French Revolution was “restored” by the diplomacy of a few national leaders. But for the factory workers in England, peasant farmers in France, people of color in Asia and Africa, women and children everywhere except in the elite upper classes, it was still primarily a world of conquest, violence, hunger, and exploitation.

But things were dramatically changing. Social Power and material prosperity were becoming more wide-spread. State power was shrinking. Society, under classical
liberalism and capitalism, was prospering.

The Industrial Revolution created the economic productivity needed to sustain Society, resulting in a flowering of the arts and culture, and a better life for millions who benefitted from the innovative inventions and entrepreneurship fostered by capitalism.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

In a comprehensive evaluative essay describe in detail the on-going conflict between Social Power (Society) versus State Power (the State) from the earliest civilizations we have studied this semester to that of Europe during the days of the Great War.

Cite specific historical examples or evidence from your textbook and video essays relating to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia; the Egyptians; the Greeks; the Romans; and Europe from the Dark Ages, the Medieval period, the Age of Absolute Monarchies, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte, up to the early 20th century.

Examples of Social Power (Society) could include specific matters pertaining to art, music, science, culture, religion, medicine, trade and commerce.

Examples of State Power (the State) could relate to the shift from early rule of the people by pharaohs, emperors, and kings, from absolute rulers to constitutional monarchy and republican forms of constitutional government, tracing the impact war, militarism, and imperial conquest played in the growth of State power.

Please do not copy, rip off, or plagiarize from another person or source. If you refer to a historical source in your essay, please fully cite from where your quoted material came. Plagiarism will result in a 0% – F.