There is a long history of rulers and governments trying to legislate on men’s hair-both the length of the hair on their heads and the style of facial hair. For practical reasons, Alexander the Great insisted his soldiers be clean-shaven, but Peter the Great of Russia went further, insisting no Russians had beards.
Early in the 19th century, Words worth opposed the coming of the seam train to the Lake District, saying it would destroy its natural character. Meanwhile, Black denounced the “darksatanic mills”of the Industrial Revolution. The conservation of the natural environment, however, did not become a major theme in politics until quite recently.
In the distribution of wealth, America is more un equal than most European countries.The richest tenth of the population earns nearly six times more than the poorest tenth. In Germany and France, the ratio is just over three to one. TheUnited States also has the largest proportion of its people in long-term poverty.
Chaucer was probably the first English writer to see the English nation as a unity. This isthe reason for his great appeal to his contemporaries. A long war France had produced a wave of patriotism, with people no longer seeing each other as Saxonor Norman but as English.
What can history tell us about contemporary society? Generally, in the past, even in Europe until the 18th century, it was assumed that it could tell how any society should work. The past was the model for the present and the future. It represented the key to the genetic code by which each generation produced its successors and ordered their relationships.
