What is something our historical past and urban future both have in common? A particular outlook to this complex question could be found in their commonality shared “by the institutional frameworks within which cities operate” (Ferguson, 2014, p.142). Niall Ferguson, the author of “The Great Degeneration,” argues that Western civilization has entered into a period of decline because of the exclusivity and private dictatorship of the state. Ferguson is strongly concerned about the decline of the west and North America and Europe becoming a stronger polity. Thus, he believes that reforming this decline cannot be done through revamping institution, but rather through a rejuvenation of civil society itself. In our western society today it is highly
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He explains that the following four factors are the main contributors to our western society’s great degeneration: democracy, capitalism, rule of law, and civil society. Fergusons believes that in order to unravel these institutional problems, there must be a strong analytical framework that is put into place. However, Ferguson also makes the reader knowledgeable of the fact that a large part of his opinions come from the work of “Douglas North, Paul Collier, Hernando de Soto, Andrei Shleifer, Jim Robinson, and Daron Acemoglu” (Ferguson, 2014, p.19-20). Ferguson is attempting to find an understanding to the complex issue as to what has caused our Western world to go wrong in our time? He uses his logic throughout the novel to explain an answer to this question by deciphering the exponential growth of elites, the abundance of government regulation, the untrustworthy rule of law, and the disconnected civil society, one has to look no further than the force of the overpowering state influence. In order to attempt to solve this great degeneration issue, as explained above, it is vital that more attention and focus be put towards rejuvenating civil society through local grassroots and community …show more content…
Ferguson provides his readers with evidence of his opinion on our stationary state by firstly unravelling the distribution aspect of democracy by explaining Edmond Burkes partnership between generations. The author then transitions into his discussion of the influence capitalism has on the balance among government regulation and economic freedom. He explains this contrast by illustrating that the overarching government manipulation and institutional regulation were the main contributing factors to the 2007 financial crisis that ensued. His next area of illustration is to that of rule of law where he exemplifies that when comparing other systems of law with common law, while modifying the concept of the rule of law to compare different codes of law to the way law itself is made. A final area of focus Ferguson uses as evidence to why we are in a stationary state is because of our suffering from a loss of civil society. This is an area where more attention to local community and grassroots support will provide engagement from civil society as a whole. Engagement from local communities can combat this lack of civil politeness and interconnectedness as there will be more of a connection between local neighborhoods and municipalities.
He explains that the following four factors are the main contributors to our western society’s great degeneration: democracy, capitalism, rule of law, and civil society. Fergusons believes that in order to unravel these institutional problems, there must be a strong analytical framework that is put into place. However, Ferguson also makes the reader knowledgeable of the fact that a large part of his opinions come from the work of “Douglas North, Paul Collier, Hernando de Soto, Andrei Shleifer, Jim Robinson, and Daron Acemoglu” (Ferguson, 2014, p.19-20). Ferguson is attempting to find an understanding to the complex issue as to what has caused our Western world to go wrong in our time? He uses his logic throughout the novel to explain an answer to this question by deciphering the exponential growth of elites, the abundance of government regulation, the untrustworthy rule of law, and the disconnected civil society, one has to look no further than the force of the overpowering state influence. In order to attempt to solve this great degeneration issue, as explained above, it is vital that more attention and focus be put towards rejuvenating civil society through local grassroots and community …show more content…
Ferguson provides his readers with evidence of his opinion on our stationary state by firstly unravelling the distribution aspect of democracy by explaining Edmond Burkes partnership between generations. The author then transitions into his discussion of the influence capitalism has on the balance among government regulation and economic freedom. He explains this contrast by illustrating that the overarching government manipulation and institutional regulation were the main contributing factors to the 2007 financial crisis that ensued. His next area of illustration is to that of rule of law where he exemplifies that when comparing other systems of law with common law, while modifying the concept of the rule of law to compare different codes of law to the way law itself is made. A final area of focus Ferguson uses as evidence to why we are in a stationary state is because of our suffering from a loss of civil society. This is an area where more attention to local community and grassroots support will provide engagement from civil society as a whole. Engagement from local communities can combat this lack of civil politeness and interconnectedness as there will be more of a connection between local neighborhoods and municipalities.