David, this is a very thought-provoking article and I thank you for it. I am not a Sowell fan but his observations about Russia appear to be insightful and spot on.
Russia has a history... of emigration.. of purges... of appalling inequality...of boundaries that are too large..
Similarly you declare Palestinian support for Hamas as an indicator of cultural poverty.. ok.. but what is Palestine? It is a besieged and coveted territory..Not a country... or a state. Hamas is fuelled by Likud and by Israeli action designed to destroy any and all moderate response...to radicalise both populations.
Perhaps Russia is... like Palestine...not a country at all..
This is a fascinating article. It makes a number of points that are quite applicable to todayās international and cultural crises.
I am particularly intrigued by your suggestion that cultural distinctions can be interpreted according to what economists call ācomparative advantage.ā That economic concept leads to a number of seemingly diverse propositions: from why tariffs are inefficient to why different currencies exist (and why removing them can lead to problems).
I am dubious when economic concepts that apply to the individual are aggregated over a population. You just donāt know if you confounded your analysis with interactive effects. (For example, why do unions exist and persist and why do queues form in free markets?)
My view is that people are, in fact, very much the same (Russians, Hamas, Israelis, British, etc.). Differences arise because their rational choices are filtered through the institutions (or absence of institutions) of their society. These ideas are somewhat similar to Richard Piperās conclusions you describe, though I have yet to read him myself.
Its would be interesting to study why Russia never developed the institutional structure that started in Europe in the Spanish Low Countries (Belgium etc.) and spread to England (we would call it the early Industrial Revolution). It would be additionally interesting to compare Russia to economic industrial development āalso-ransā like Spain and France.
Iāll end this comment with a seemingly irrelevant addendum: I have enormous respect for Russian mathematics, and to a slightly lesser extent, Russian physics.
Well done!
So glad you liked it! I think Iām going to write a sequel.
David, this is a very thought-provoking article and I thank you for it. I am not a Sowell fan but his observations about Russia appear to be insightful and spot on.
He has written on so many subjects that you may find he is much stronger and more compelling on some than others.
This concept of cultural capital is the idea from him that has most deeply influenced me.
How is a country kept?
Russia has a history... of emigration.. of purges... of appalling inequality...of boundaries that are too large..
Similarly you declare Palestinian support for Hamas as an indicator of cultural poverty.. ok.. but what is Palestine? It is a besieged and coveted territory..Not a country... or a state. Hamas is fuelled by Likud and by Israeli action designed to destroy any and all moderate response...to radicalise both populations.
Perhaps Russia is... like Palestine...not a country at all..
This is a fascinating article. It makes a number of points that are quite applicable to todayās international and cultural crises.
I am particularly intrigued by your suggestion that cultural distinctions can be interpreted according to what economists call ācomparative advantage.ā That economic concept leads to a number of seemingly diverse propositions: from why tariffs are inefficient to why different currencies exist (and why removing them can lead to problems).
I am dubious when economic concepts that apply to the individual are aggregated over a population. You just donāt know if you confounded your analysis with interactive effects. (For example, why do unions exist and persist and why do queues form in free markets?)
My view is that people are, in fact, very much the same (Russians, Hamas, Israelis, British, etc.). Differences arise because their rational choices are filtered through the institutions (or absence of institutions) of their society. These ideas are somewhat similar to Richard Piperās conclusions you describe, though I have yet to read him myself.
Its would be interesting to study why Russia never developed the institutional structure that started in Europe in the Spanish Low Countries (Belgium etc.) and spread to England (we would call it the early Industrial Revolution). It would be additionally interesting to compare Russia to economic industrial development āalso-ransā like Spain and France.
Iāll end this comment with a seemingly irrelevant addendum: I have enormous respect for Russian mathematics, and to a slightly lesser extent, Russian physics.