"When looking at the apparently astonishing levels of welfare fraud in Minnesota, the Somalis involved were just acting like, well, Somalis—people from a highly clannish and collectivist culture who sharply differentiate between in-group and out-group. There is a reason there is such a striking correlation (0.91) between how collectivist a culture is and how corrupt the state is." Realisation of this appears to be gaining ground - for example in our grooming gangs - Pakistani muslims just acting like Pakistani muslims.
People from different cultures can behave differently within the same set of institutions. Because cultures affect what you think of as significant, or not, and to what degree.
Somalis reacted to outsiders handing out money in Minnesota in the same way Somalis reacted to outsiders handing out money in Somalia. If outsiders are not handing out money, they behave differently. Yes, incentives and institutions matter, but so does culture.
A very good question to end on! I hope that parties of both the centre-right and centre-left will soon jettison these profoundly illiberal 'toxic vetoes' and stop turning every election into another 'culture war' showdown.
One minor point... The "....for each of them, there’s a dozen students in China working their socks off to get a lifestyle that these kids in America seem to think is their birthright." I live in Wuchang District of Wuhan, the district that contains approximately 1 million of those students. The correct ratio is probably closer to 10,000:1 (students in China working their socks off to get a lifestyle that these kids in America...etc.)
So far so good...Fei Xiaotong fills in interesting gaps, doesn't it...(?) China Emerging by Wu Xiaobo also has tasty nuggets (for which he's currently paying a price for).
Thanks for the somewhat grim correction (I think). Hope you enjoy the series. It was amazing how far trying to answer the question “How can you have surging commercialisation when commerce is illegal?” led me a long, but enlightening, way.
Yes, I found From the Soil very enlightening.
Thanks for the tip about China Emerging, unfortunately, the book in question is not very accessible.
My ratio is obviously made up; it was only intended to illustrate how different the operational modes are between US and China university. Those having some familiarity with the situation came up with the opprobrium "bai zuo" 白左 (white left). There's a Substack somewhere describing it.
Yeah, he took serious heat. Your third sentence...he filled in the gaps, i.e., those charged with enforcing rules were making ridiculously huge bank. Maybe he's restricting access.
Well, yes. But order of magnitude greater is a fair point.
I may have used the term bai zuo on occasion.
A description of contemporary China that resonated with me is that China has about the same population as the Americas: now think of LA and the back blocks of Colombia being in the same country.
"When looking at the apparently astonishing levels of welfare fraud in Minnesota, the Somalis involved were just acting like, well, Somalis—people from a highly clannish and collectivist culture who sharply differentiate between in-group and out-group. There is a reason there is such a striking correlation (0.91) between how collectivist a culture is and how corrupt the state is." Realisation of this appears to be gaining ground - for example in our grooming gangs - Pakistani muslims just acting like Pakistani muslims.
> When looking at the apparently astonishing levels of welfare fraud in Minnesota, the Somalis involved were just acting like, well, Somalis
It's not just that. Somalia itself now runs on a similar principle wrt foreign aid.
https://freemarketsandfirepower.substack.com/p/anarchy-state-and-somalia
People from different cultures can behave differently within the same set of institutions. Because cultures affect what you think of as significant, or not, and to what degree.
https://x.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1770773231869231364
Somalis reacted to outsiders handing out money in Minnesota in the same way Somalis reacted to outsiders handing out money in Somalia. If outsiders are not handing out money, they behave differently. Yes, incentives and institutions matter, but so does culture.
https://youtu.be/c4iI3GU6eZ4?si=ensHonp-Z6gLeapC
The video is fascinating. Makes Russia the truly woke state - where power is all that counts. Wokery carried to its logical conclusion.
A very good question to end on! I hope that parties of both the centre-right and centre-left will soon jettison these profoundly illiberal 'toxic vetoes' and stop turning every election into another 'culture war' showdown.
One minor point... The "....for each of them, there’s a dozen students in China working their socks off to get a lifestyle that these kids in America seem to think is their birthright." I live in Wuchang District of Wuhan, the district that contains approximately 1 million of those students. The correct ratio is probably closer to 10,000:1 (students in China working their socks off to get a lifestyle that these kids in America...etc.)
So far so good...Fei Xiaotong fills in interesting gaps, doesn't it...(?) China Emerging by Wu Xiaobo also has tasty nuggets (for which he's currently paying a price for).
Looking forward to future parts....thanks much.
Thanks for the somewhat grim correction (I think). Hope you enjoy the series. It was amazing how far trying to answer the question “How can you have surging commercialisation when commerce is illegal?” led me a long, but enlightening, way.
Yes, I found From the Soil very enlightening.
Thanks for the tip about China Emerging, unfortunately, the book in question is not very accessible.
My ratio is obviously made up; it was only intended to illustrate how different the operational modes are between US and China university. Those having some familiarity with the situation came up with the opprobrium "bai zuo" 白左 (white left). There's a Substack somewhere describing it.
Yeah, he took serious heat. Your third sentence...he filled in the gaps, i.e., those charged with enforcing rules were making ridiculously huge bank. Maybe he's restricting access.
Well, yes. But order of magnitude greater is a fair point.
I may have used the term bai zuo on occasion.
A description of contemporary China that resonated with me is that China has about the same population as the Americas: now think of LA and the back blocks of Colombia being in the same country.
Resonate…yes. Then, there’s density. I’ve been hanging around here for >15 years, and it still gets me going. So, there’s that.