Comparative Civilizations Review Volume 61 Article 8 Number 61 Fall 2009 10-1-2009 Megalopolis versus Social Retardation: The Continuing Relevance of the Views of Spengler and Toynbee on the Variability of the Rate of Cultural Change W. Reed Smith
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr Recommended Citation Smith, W. Reed (2009) "Megalopolis versus Social Retardation: The onC tinuing Relevance of the Views of Spengler and Toynbee on the Variability of the Rate of Cultural Change," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 61 : No. 61 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol61/iss61/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Comparative Civilizations Review by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Smith: Megalopolis versus Social Retardation: The Continuing Relevance o Megalopolis versus Social Retardation: The Continuing Relevance of the Views of Spengler and Toynbee on the Variability of the Rate of Cultural Change W. Reed Smith, J.D., LL.M. Adjunct Professor, Tulane University
[email protected] I. Introduction There is a consensus, displayed in the media every day, that some US regions are more advanced than others, and some more backward. New York and Boston are centers of Culture, the Ozarks and Alabama are backward. Why? Both Spengler and Toynbee had strong beliefs on the variability of the rate of cultural development in various regions that they noted in their own time.