The Culture of Nations - Its who you are

[azooey]

Today's Sunday Times carries a guest column by David Brooks (original NYT article). Whether you get a parking ticket or not, would depend on a gazillion real life factors. Time, traffic, a fight with your spouse, a lost sock, vehicle malfuntion or whatever-god-wills. It might sound be unfair, even far-fetched to caliberate my cultural standing, and

Comments

[azooey]

Not all that reeks of racism is crap. just like all that glitters is not gold.

[anonymous]

Very interesting to see an Indian blogger link to David Brooks. I have myself been following him for over a year now.

Have some of his articles up in my article archive here :
http://thebroadcaster.blogspot.com/search?q=brooks&x=0&y=0

if you find time, read the last one on that page -
http://thebroadcaster.blogspot.com/2006/02/questions-on-culture.html

Although I would characterize myself as a libertarian and not a right-wing ( and certainly not a liberal), I like much of Brooks writings.

Elsewhere in the blog I saw you link to the indianeconomyblog and don bordeaux at cafehayek. Great stuff !! Every looked at marginalrevolution.com ?

Cheers
sharathrao.blogspot.com

Doesn't really fit

[anonymous]

So culture determines the fate of a nation? Geographical determinism is just a racial slur, even though there might be places where you can accept geography as cause for growth/collapse. Cultural determinism is just plain racist, most often, with an implicit implication that European culture is the best

Re: Doesn't really fit

[azooey]

*scratches head* I was talking of the Japanese revival after WWII. I dont remember reading abt any revolutions in Japan, Britain or Germany after that.

And didnt India have its half century long "revolution", ending in 1947.

nations which have effective checks and balances have flourished while others floundered.

If it were that simple, why doesnt everyone have effective checks and balances?

Re: Doesn't really fit

[five18pm]

Umm... WWII doesn't qualify as revolution

Re: Doesn't really fit

[azooey]

wonderful reading C!! Thanks for "No Treason". Have u read the whole thing? May be you should just give me gist of it over coffee ;) And no, quite unfortunate, but I havent looked at our constitution.

Because it is not easy to develop an effective checks and balances system??!

Yes, thats my point. Its obviously been *relatively* easier for some than for the others. Coz its obviously been more effective for some and less for others. What do u think creates this dichotomy, if i may call it that?

[dilip]

I need to concentrate in order to read your posts.. still i dont understand anything many times... ur brain should be powerful in order to write these very complex sentences :-))

Thats true

[dilip]

She is training to be Amartya Sen, I guess ;).

~C.

Re: Thats true

[azooey]

Funny.

[azooey]

ur brain should be powerful in order to write these very complex sentences

Boost is the secret of my energy. MWAAHHAHAAAAAAA.

[aimlesswanderer]

People need the coherence their culture provides and value it even more than easy parking.

It is interesting to see how these lines convincingly localize a broad spectrum of behavioral patterns vis-a-vis driving/parking. At the risk of digressing from your well written (and researched) piece, do you really believe people are more driven by the sociological need to "do the right thing" or the more plausible "do what is more convenient"?

I have been driving in Texas where there are just too many deviants to this theory.

./w

[azooey]

do you really believe people are more driven by the sociological need to "do the right thing" or the more plausible "do what is more convenient"?

If you're a vegetarian (lets say by choice, rather than by birth) would u eat a beef burger, because its more convenient to get? Or would u rather walk down a extra block to get ur regular veggie burger.

[azooey]

It was an analogy. There are some things we just wont compromise. Just like the swedes wont compromise abt parking right, we dont compromise our food requirements. Its the way culture makes u.

Culture is a vague word...

[vasuvasu]

Culture is too vauge a concept to attribute to lay human behaviour