Low trust societies combined with high time preference (impulsive, lack of planning for the future) etc. are problematic. Eastern Europe / Russia are low trust societies in a lot of ways as well as places like the M.E. and Africa.Hastur wrote: ↑Fri Jan 25, 2019 1:41 amOne thing we take for granted in the west is our reverence for truth. When I go to Africa or the ME the hardest thing for me is all the lying that goes on. People lie about everything. What they know, what they don't know, where things are, how much stuff costs, what they promise to do and when things are going to happen. lies, lies, lies. And they're not even embarrassed about it.
Individualism, and all the responsibilities and rewards it brings. That is what made us kings. We're always trying to figure stuff out and investigate what makes things work. You can only do that if you lift up truthfulness as the highest virtue. In the far east, they have the constant fear of losing face. To fail in your mission. That has a similar effect but it's not as strong as what we have. They never get full recognition for personal achievements.
Postmodernism is a potentially fatal disease in our culture. It strikes at the core. It's an assault on truth itself. It needs to be burnt out from the body of society.
I've also read/heard that places were there is a higher rate of cousin marriage which is a direct sign of low trust societies and more clannish behavior with things like so called "honor killings" and such can be graphed geographically. Essentially the closer you get to the Equator the more of cousin marriages you have. But its also an eastern direction going from Western Europe east to Southern and Eastern Europe. Some sociologist/anthropologist suggest that is one cultural cause for the mafia in southern Italy for example.
Fascinating how these characteristics and societal customs play out.