This is a great summary. Someone suggested to me this book but , in reading this summary, I now realize that this book is just a regurgitation of the neo liberal manifest destiny.
The book actually calls out the liberal humanist ideology as an ideology. Discusses the benefits (greater collaborative opportunities) and the drawbacks (loss of ideological meaning)
I think it’s an excellent exploration of the ideology common in western secular society. Even if you oppose that ideology I highly recommend that you understand it.
Right but from the summary I feel it seems like a history told from that lens. Just like a different lens causes one to see "the history of society is the history of class struggles".
I'm at 2/3 of the book Sapiens (so I haven't finished it yet). Thus far, I can highly recommend the book in order to understand more of the current world politics and history. Heck, I believe this book great material for high school (though it does fit with many history lessons I had). I fully disagree the book is "just a regurgitation of the neo liberal manifest destiny". I don't understand how you can get to that conclusion. I haven't seen Harari trying to support any of -ism. From [1] you can read he is Israelian (therefore probably Jewish though I did not confirm), historian, openly gay, vegan. I did not see any specific support for any of these -isms. All I read is explanations on why humankind and humanity is the way it is.
"All this changed dramatically over the last two centuries. The Industrial Revolution gave the market immense new powers, provided the state with new means of communication and transportation, and placed at the government’s disposal an army of clerks, teachers, policemen and social workers. At first the market and the state discovered their path blocked by traditional families and communities who had little love for outside intervention. Parents and community elders were reluctant to let the younger generation be indoctrinated by nationalist education systems, conscripted into armies or turned into a rootless urban proletariat.
"The state and the market approached people with an offer that could not be refused. ‘Become individuals,’ they said. ‘Marry whomever you desire, without asking permission from your parents. Take up whatever job suits you, even if community elders frown. Live wherever you wish, even if you cannot make it every week to the family dinner. You are no longer dependent on your family or your community. We, the state and the market, will take care of you instead. We will provide food, shelter, education, health, welfare and employment. We will provide pensions, insurance and protection.’"
If nothing else, two centuries is an awfully short time to allow you to conclude that 100,000 years of the past are no longer especially relevant.
