Talking of Europe's prospects, I wonder if it's poised to fall in Dark Ages again... I mean, take the issue of bioengineered foodstuff: the EU, with currently 7+ million farms (vs only 2 mil in the US) and an aging population, has no interest whatsoever in developing more efficient crops/livestocks --but China and Asia have:
China's Biotech Is Starting to Bloom
Made-in-China clones, plants, and drugs? The People's Republic has made big steps on the long road to global power in commercial life sciences.
FORTUNE
Monday, September 2, 2002
By David Stipp
fortune.com
So, my point is that, by 2010/2015, Europe will have fallen behind as far as life sciences are concerned... (think of Jose Bove and his fellow agro-luddites) Just like in the Middle Ages, when religious obscurantism hampered the advancement of anatomy and medicine. On the other hand, the good news is that the fall of Constantinople in 1453 triggered the European Renaissance: many Greek scholars fled to Venice, Florence, etc., bringing their Greco-Roman heritage with them. I guess we'll witness a similar American Renaissance in 10-15 years when American scholars and literati will "re-discover" European culture(s).... |
