Figure 21: One branch of western civilization?The image above traces the path along which imperial empires have existed and where I project they will exist in the future. Some of the reasons I used to suggest that Australia will grow into a major world leader also apply to South Africa. For example South Africa is part of the English speaking world, South African cities are very young, and South Africa’s membership in the British Commonwealth suggests that it has powerful relationships. With time, as South Africa’s economy grows so too will South African culture, prosperity, and lifestyle emerge into western awareness in the same way the United States emerged into European awareness, California emerged into American awareness, and Australia is emerging into western awareness. Today, and even more so in the future, the world will be economically ready for Africa. How? The Live Aid concerts held around the world in 2005, aimed at eradicating African poverty, reminded me of the difference between hope and reality with regard to poverty and economic development. The hope is that poverty can be eradicated. However, the shape of capitalism and western civilisation is hierarchical. In the wealthiest of states, people live in poverty, so eradicating poverty in its entirety is a worthy goal, but perhaps an eternal effort. In terms of reality, it is unlikely that geographical segregation of economic development and prosperity will persist in the future. On a cultural level, many of the factors that prohibited growth in Africa are changing in favor of development. From the perspective of the urban organism, Africa is another link in the world-chain, a necessary component for the growth of a global organism. While poverty may persist, its compartmental distribution will change.
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