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Civilization and Its Enemies

Review of Civilization and Its Enemies by Lee Harris 

Since September 11, we've all been bombarded with opinions from armchair quarterbacks, myopic intellectuals, Pollyanna liberals, deskbound philosophers, sound bite journalists, and various unqualified people expounding from their limited world view while assuming only they have the right answers. Thinking people have tended to disregard all such opinions, because none of them hold up under close examination.

What we've been looking for is something that explains what happened--and where we're headed--from a perspective that doesn't serve an ideological agenda. And we've been looking for that because an ideological agenda is what those terrorists had on that day--more of the same is not an answer.

The answer we really want is, "What's next?" We want to see what's ahead for us. Lee Harris helps us look ahead by first looking back. He takes us through the various stages of civilization and shows us how each rose to prominence and what drove it one to survive as long as it did.

For example, Sparta enjoyed 500 years in which it was never conquered, never had a civil war, and was never ruled by a tyrant. Even the United States cannot boast of such things--the USA has been around for less than half that time, had a very bloody Civil War, and is today ruled by a slew of law-breaking tyrants in government agencies (as was documented in Senator Roth's 12 televised hearings on the IRS). What gave Sparta such an amazing track record?

After explaining the source of Sparta's success, Harris moves forward through history. Along the way, he examines subsequent Western civilizations from the Roman Empire to nineteenth century Poland. It is on this journey that we see, for example, why the United States changed from a loose alliance of states to a nation with a strong central government. And we see why Poland failed to do so and what the consequences were. It's fascinating to watch Harris unfold events to expose the cultural foundations behind them, including how Hitler and Mussolini rose to power.

The book is far from being a dry history lesson, or really a history lesson at all. It's an education in how and why world events happen. Harris provides that education by providing the reader with a factual foundation then making the reader think. Having such an education will help you understand where we are headed and why. It will help you understand what the USA must do, in its role as the world's Samurai. The USA wields a mighty sword, while also adhering to a code of behavior that people of other nations expect us to continue to uphold simply because of who we are. Harris explains what that code is, how it came to be, and why it is in the best interests of the USA to continue to uphold it.

The USA, despite its relatively short history, Civil War in its 9th decade, and present infestation of tyrants, is still the world's great hope. And not just because it has more military might and more wealth than any other nation in history. The nation is a microcosm of the world's cultures--the great melting pot--and the implications of that are profound. How much responsibility to the rest of the world comes with that? Answer the question for yourself, after reading this book.