– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

These four great civilizations are the

Russians, the Germans, the British, and

the Americans. Now, what's interesting

about um all four civilizations is that

they all claim to be the the um ultimate

Christian civilizations that are here to

Rome. But because of the differences in

their geography and their culture, they

have different interpretations of

Christianity and Romanness. Okay. So

let's compare and contrast these four

great civilizations. The Russians uh as

you know Russia is the largest land mass

in the world. It is huge. It is also

really cold and dark. Okay. So the

geography um transform the Russian

character. Okay. Um Germany in contrast

it is within Europe and it does not have

the natural boundaries that the other

nations have. It is always being

attacked and threatened by adversaries.

Okay. Um the British it's an island

fortress. The Americans um are the most

interesting because it is a continental

fortress. It is not only invincible. It

cannot be invaded but also has all the

resources it needs in order to have a

thriving modern economy. Therefore,

America can choose to isolate itself

from the rest of the world. Okay. Now,

because of the difference geography, you

have differences in Christianity and in

its Romanness. So, the Russians believe

that they are here to the Bisantine

Empire and as such they are the

protectors of something called Eastern

Orthodoxy. Okay. So to understand what

Eastern Orthodoxy is, think of

Augustine. Okay, we read Augustine, city

of God. So it is a very mystical

metaphorical

um collectivist

attitude towards religion. In contrast,

the Germans believe that they are here

to the Holy Roman Empire first initiated

by Charlemagne and as such they are more

Catholic than the Russians. Okay. Then

you have the British who believe they

are here to the real Roman Empire. Um

and their religion is anglingism. Okay.

Remember anglicism there's really really

little difference between Catholicism

and in Anglanism when in Anglicanism you

swear allegiance to the king of England.

In Catholicism you swear allegiance to

the pope of the Vatican. Um

and then you have the Americans who have

a who believe that they are adheres to

the Roman Republic. Okay, not the

empire, the republic before the time of

Julius Caesar, the best former

government in the world. Um the religion

um so the elite is something we call um

das. Okay. So they believe in God but

God as someone who is removed from the

world. You also have many different sex

of panism. Okay. So the religion in

America it is very diffuse very diverse.

Okay. So um different c cultural out the

the different cultural outlooks will

also determine their cultural

identities. So for example the Russians

um they have the thing that

differentiates the Russians is they have

a very dark imagination. So some of the

greatest literature, some of the

greatest music philosophy actually comes

from Russia. So think of Toy Story,

Docski. In terms of music, you have

Tchaikovski and Stravinsky.

Okay, I will also show you that uh the

Russians produced the greatest

geopolitical leaders in history. So in

the 20th century, the greatest

geopolitical leader was actually Joseph

Stalin. And I will show you I'll show

you this is the case uh when we move to

the 20th century today. The greatest

yopula leader in the world is Vladimir

Putin. So there's something about the

Russian dark imagination that produces

men of genius to lead their countries.

Um the Russian cultural identity is the

idea of mother Russia, the land itself,

the nation, the people. It is divine.

All right. And so the main objective of

all Russian geopolitical leaders is to

protect its borders from enemies because

because Russia is so huge and

encompasses two continents. Um it has a

lot of geopolitical enemies. Okay. So

that's the Russian um civilization. When

we move to the Germans, the Germans are

really interesting because the Germans

have also the great human civilizations

in history. Okay. So rather than a dark

imagination, the Germans believe in the

idea of will to power. We will discuss

this when we discuss German philosophy,

especially nichi. Okay. But the idea is

this that we have the capacity to impose

our will on reality. That's the idea of

will to power. We don't we are not

subject to culture. We're not subject to

reality. There are great men among us

who can impose their will on all of us.

Okay? And that's why you have Hitler and

the Nazis. Okay. Um the what the Germans

believe in is the idea of limit. Okay.

Limit. I know this is a hard word. It's

a German word, but it's actually a

pretty easy concept. The concept is

called living space. So throughout its

history, German, the German people have

always been invaded, attacked by its

adversaries. So to protect itself, it

needs living space. It needs to move out

and colonize its surrounding

territories, Poland, uh, Russia, Austria

and make it more German so that the

German nation can thrive. Okay, very

simple concept. Okay, but this is the

concept that drives the German uh

military strategy in World War I and

World War II. Okay, limits Rome. You

have the British and the British as we

discussed last class, they are a very

practical people. The philosophy is

empiricism and utilitarianism. Okay,

it's not a question of what is right or

what is ideal. It's a question of what

works now. Okay. The British are

extremely practical. Um the British

Empire is based on the concept of white

men's burden. Meaning that the British

culture is inherently superior to all

other cultures and as such the British

have a responsibility to go out and

civilize and educate and enlighten all

others. Okay. So this is the philosophy

that drives the British Empire.

The Americans are interesting because

they are a new civilization and they try

to base their culture on the ideas of

the enlightenment. Okay. So Rouso Kant

especially John Lock um their driving

ideology is the idea of manifest

destiny. So the idea of manifest destiny

is that it is the obvious will of God

for America to control the entire

western hemisphere. That's why Trump

today is saying we should take over

Canada. We should take over Greenland

because that's always been part

of the American understanding of the

world. It is God's will that America

will eventually control all the entire

Western Hemisphere. Canada will

eventually come into America into

America as well and eventually America

will drive out all European powers

including Denmark and Britain from the

Western Hemisphere.

Okay. So next class we'll discuss uh

America in greater detail. Today we will

focus on the British Empire which is

founded by William Shakespeare. Okay. So

we'll discuss William Shakespeare today.

Uh next week we'll start to focus on the

Russians and the Germans. Okay. But

these are the four great civilizations

that will drive history from from the

19th century up to today. Okay. And I

will also show you later on that it is

actually the conflict

between these four great civilizations

that will drive human creativity.

Science, technology,

um philosophy. Okay. And that's why from

about 1800 up until um 2000 you had a

tremendous

flowering of ideas and culture. Okay.

All right.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
civilization /ˌsɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ B2	noun - a society in an advanced state of social development and organization
geography /dʒiˈɒɡrəfi/ B1	noun - the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere
interpretation /ˌɪntərprəˈteɪʃən/ B2	noun - the action of explaining the meaning of something
transform /trænsˈfɔːrm/ B1	verb - to change completely the appearance or character of something
invincible /ɪnˈvɪnsəbəl/ B2	adjective - too strong to be defeated
thrive /θraɪv/ B1	verb - to grow or develop successfully
mystical /ˈmɪstɪkəl/ C1	adjective - relating to spiritual truths that cannot be explained
collectivist /kəˈlɛktɪvɪst/ C1	adjective - relating to the belief that the group is more important than the individual
adversary /ˈædvərseri/ B2	noun - an opponent or enemy
diversity /daɪˈvɜːrsəti/ B2	noun - the state of being diverse; variety
imagination /ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃən/ B1	noun - the ability to form mental images or concepts of things not present
philosophy /fɪˈlɒsəfi/ B2	noun - the study of fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence
ideology /ˌaɪdiˈɒlədʒi/ B2	noun - a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory
practical /ˈpræktɪkəl/ B1	adjective - relating to practice rather than theory
empiricism /ɛmpɪˈrɪsɪzəm/ C1	noun - the theory that all knowledge is based on experience