Far from collapse?

So it's been a while...but I'm back and better than ever. Taking another cue from current events my current focus has been on the economic woes of the United States. In my US history class we've been discussing the populist movement, the political movement of the "people" in response to the excesses of wealth in the late 19th century. The farmers were right! ..but they didn't win. The country could not survive without them, and even so they still fell victim to exploitation. Fast forward to the 1920s. The farmers problems had been addressed by presidents such as TR, Taft, and Wilson. Then came the backlash - no more government handouts! On to the Roaring 20s and a laissez faire approach to economic policy. Once again, the farmers were forgotten and this ultimately led to the crash in 1929. There have been some more scares over the years, but the government has since gotten involved in the economy like never before. Today government has been easing off...and what has been the result? Recession? Speculation? Greed? Well, greed is always there...but once again, there seems to be no "base" to support the massive upside down pyramid that is the distribution of wealth.

If you don't know what I'm talking about or what you're reading - fear not, I think I've gone off on some large tangential rant! But I think this relates somehow to the spread of Islam. Merchants. Trade. The middle class. Without this group there seems to be turmoil. The growth of Islam led the rise of Golden Ages. Wealth and prosperity. Rome collapsed without a middle class. As did the Han. (The French Revolution seems to be the anomaly...with the middle class actually causing the collapse of the French monarchy). Did Islam help develop a middle class for the world???

YOUR THOUGHTS???!!!

Is there religion? Or just humanism?

Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities — particularly rationality. It is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems and is incorporated into several religious schools of thought. Humanism entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and cultural problems cannot be parochial. (Courtesy of Wikipedia - yes, Wikipedia).

Thats a mouthful, but is it very far from what really all religions are preaching? Look at what is said in Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity - many ideals are extremely similar: spiritual equality, help the poor, etc. Are these religious ideals or human ideals? I think of the spread of all. Syncretism was involved in all of these processes, with the religions adapting to local customs and traditional beliefs.

As per the "Is God in our Genes" article, there seems to be something innately human about spirituality, even if it is not manifeted in the form of relgion. Maybe all religions are just the manifestation of a universal human spirituality?!