Quote:
Originally Posted by seshomaru samma  utabintarbo:
I am not sure it is freedom. Korea , Taiwan and Hong Kong were not democracies when they got rich. China is getting rich these days and it's certainlt not the land of the free (the economy is more free and compared with the days of communism ,freedom is on the increase)
i think Weber had something when he talked about the 'protestant ethics' , it seems that something about western culture (and confucian culture) makes good at making money. placing value on education? logical thinking hard working? discipline?
i dont know what it is , but there is certainly something.
of course government policy is very important , if you have a communist rule you will never grow economicaly. |
I suspect it is the work ethic. The protestants pushed a very strong work ethic. Historically Americans have worked hard. Today, Easterners work much harder than we do... and they're overtaking us. But other cultures do not seem to have a strong work ethic as and integral part of society. (The only first hand example of this is when I visited Ghana, the men did an awful lot of hanging out in the shade). I'm not really advocating a "work your life away" attitude, but it surely does produce results.