High cultures in the world have been, just to name a few:
Ancient Sumer Ancient Egypt Ancient Greece Persian Empire Roman Empire Eastern Roman Empire Aztecs and Incas in the Americas Moorish Culture (yes Muslims in Spain) Ancient China Ancient India Khanates in India the Pacific cultures Turkish Empire Europe, Russia in their many many guises of small duchies, states, city states, allegiances between vastly different countries by marriage and eventually nation states with probably one of the most glorious cultures coming out of Rennaissance Italy The American Empire
We probably received our knowledge of wheat from the Sumerians and Egyptians Astronomy, Maths, Medicine also dating back to the Egyptians and Sumerians Beginnings of every Western scientific system through all those peoples, especially from the Greeks (and Romans) who wrote so much down; The Moorish (and Jewish) peoples rescued science, medicine, and general knowledge from the medieval darkness of benighted Europeans who were too busy rescuing their souls, burning heretics and witches (a bit like the more fanatical Muslims are doing nowadays - perish the thought - we were like them?) We got potatoes, tomatoes, cocoa, corn etc. etc. from the Americas
Oops forgot about the desert regions who are responsible for our major religions (seems hot deserts give rise to apparitions) i.e. Jews and Arabs.
Then the good times of vast Western empires which reached right across the oceans, but had a common thread, exploitation of the locals - a stranglehold on their princes (bribery, drugs - China was won by making them dependant on Opium) and ramming our 'culture' down their throats with military force.
The Africas had been deprived of precious healthy young people for centuries by the slave trade (starting with the Arabs, later continued by the Europeans)
Result? for the last 60 years or so a conscience has emerged in the West, which at first said: "Alright, we have been to your place, we took your resources for a song etc. -we'll give you citicenship in exchange and you can come and live with us" (forgetting of course, that ship and air travel would make this process too quick for comfort)
France, Britain were the first to have many nationals from different countries settle.
I don't want to make this too long, but we have also added the refinements of sending in the Dogs of War into all sorts of countries where we have no business, which results in people wanting to leave, i.e. refugees.
We will have to learn to live with many different races! Their cultures will imperceptibly melt with ours, or ours with theirs and the next generation will simply forget what it was like BEFORE and get on with it.
I don't want to give anyone a bad conscience, since none of us who are here now have caused most of the above, except possibly supporting wars in countries where we shouldn't even be; I just wanted to point out that the light of civilization or knowledge is not carried by a single nation or people from a certain locality only.
The way I see it; globally we are living in the time of the 'American Empire' - English is the global communications system, for both, human communication as well as scientific writings, quite apart from everything to do with modern technology. Life in all its aspects at this present time and in the foreseeable future is and will be conducted in your native language - English!
