I want to change things for the better. I told you that. And why wouldn't I? But to what end? Who defines what is better? I do, in this case. And it contains the stipulation that my family will remain intact--or more so--and in power. I see nothing wrong with bending Fortune to my will, but that does not mean it is correct. Play the devil's advocate for me, Shaun. Tell me I am wrong and I will stand against you.
First off, you're utterly mucking about with the proper order of things, each new way of generating power only comes from the one before, so by cutting out the bit where people learn to understand what they're using you could be setting up a rather nasty chain of events. For example the industrial revolution ended up ushering in public schools and scientific discoveries, and while that means your people are going to be better educated, that means the time of the church holding such massive power will end quite a bit sooner. If you don't set up a state before then, there won't be anything to unite italy.
And while we're on quality of life, you're going to kill quite a few old ways of going about one's life, no longer will the upper and lower classes be in some sort of mutual agreement, they'll be opposed to each other. Also while you'll create new jobs, even more old ones will die out, people learning the new trades will flock to the cities and if you think Rome's bad now...
Let me answer this piece by piece. Who decides what the proper order of things is? Is that not just as circular an argument as saying that I will decide what is better? I have seen the rapidity of your own culture's advances--tell me that your grandfather would understand modern pieces of technology, or even those from a decade ago. I am not seeking anything much more than that. The scale is perhaps different in that I would be starting from a further point, but I would not be attempting anything quite so complicated as what you have, either.
There are what you might call public schools already present in Italy. What would change would be the ability for more children to attend them instead of working in the fields. I already desire my own state; these events would already be intimately connected.
It's more than just a generation or so back Cesare, and more than trying to teach my grandfather how to send an email, what you're standing on is the very birth of the modern era. Electricity and the steam engine lead to a complete change in medical science, production, farming, education, travel, and through those advances come a change in the way of thinking. The rules of society will be altered, people will look at the role of the government differently, and with more people reading, more will be able to pick up and spread their ideas... even if they run counter to your own. It will be a complete shifting of your society's views of the world and their place in it.
Would that be such a bad thing? I could learn from your mistakes and avoid the worst of them. Tell me--in this current year, which of our two nations is the better run?
I would not become Britannia. I would improve upon it.
"We won't be the Renaisance, we'll look to it's morals, it's art, it's complete destruction of all racial conflicts. We'll be better than Rome and Italy, and with our armies and navy, we'll guide the lesser countries we can control, and stand as the most civilized nation among men"
What you said isn't quite there, but it's along the way. You do a fine Burkhardt though.
The problem with what I said is that there's an inborn hubris to it, no matter what the technological level, that doesn't make one country actually better than the other ...despite how I feel about Europe. "Guiding" other countries destroys their culture and forces your own on them, no matter who's morals you take a look at there's going to be flaws, and racial conflicts aren't going do die out now, much less back in your time.
If you go ahead with this you'll have to be aware of that and be ready to take those problems on, otherwise you'll end up like the British empire, losing control of the territory you have, despised by a rather large part of the world at one point, and possibly even facing economic and military ruin.
pauses, looks up. skips a stone once, twice, three times. It sinks and he bends to pick up another.*
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Shaun...
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Hmm?
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Do you think it's a bad idea to attempt such a thing?
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Cesare if you're talking about the dam, it really depends on what sort of changes you're willing to make to the history of your world.
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I want to change things for the better. I told you that. And why wouldn't I? But to what end? Who defines what is better? I do, in this case. And it contains the stipulation that my family will remain intact--or more so--and in power. I see nothing wrong with bending Fortune to my will, but that does not mean it is correct. Play the devil's advocate for me, Shaun. Tell me I am wrong and I will stand against you.
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First off, you're utterly mucking about with the proper order of things, each new way of generating power only comes from the one before, so by cutting out the bit where people learn to understand what they're using you could be setting up a rather nasty chain of events. For example the industrial revolution ended up ushering in public schools and scientific discoveries, and while that means your people are going to be better educated, that means the time of the church holding such massive power will end quite a bit sooner. If you don't set up a state before then, there won't be anything to unite italy.
And while we're on quality of life, you're going to kill quite a few old ways of going about one's life, no longer will the upper and lower classes be in some sort of mutual agreement, they'll be opposed to each other. Also while you'll create new jobs, even more old ones will die out, people learning the new trades will flock to the cities and if you think Rome's bad now...
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There are what you might call public schools already present in Italy. What would change would be the ability for more children to attend them instead of working in the fields. I already desire my own state; these events would already be intimately connected.
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In short, you'll become Britannia.
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I would not become Britannia. I would improve upon it.
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What you said isn't quite there, but it's along the way. You do a fine Burkhardt though.
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How do you know this is the path my territory will take?
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If you go ahead with this you'll have to be aware of that and be ready to take those problems on, otherwise you'll end up like the British empire, losing control of the territory you have, despised by a rather large part of the world at one point, and possibly even facing economic and military ruin.
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