Experimental Blog #177

Notes and quotations from "Day of Empire - How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance - And Why They Fall" by Amy Chua

" ...every single world power in history - was, at least by the standards of its time, extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant during its rise to preeminence. < > tolerance simply means letting very different kinds of people live, work, and prosper in your society - even if only for instrumental or strategic reasons."
"Because tolerance is a relative matter, even tolerated groups may be subject to harshly inequitable treatment."
"History shows that hyperpowers can survive only if they find ways to command the allegiance or at least the acquiescence of the foreign populations they dominate .."

"Achaemenid Persia was the first world-dominant power in history."
Other empires described at great length are: Imperial Rome, China's Tang Empire, the Great Mongol Empire, the Dutch Republic, China's Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire{Muslim rulers with Hindu subjects}, and the British Empire.
"Whereas Achaemenid Persia was essentially just a war machine, Rome was also an idea. Inhabitants from the farthest reaches of the empire wanted to be - and became-"Roman." Along the empires remarkable 53,000-mile net work of paved roads and bridges that linked Britons to Berbers, one could find thousands of Roman baths, amphitheaters, and temples, built to the same specifications and filled with toga-clad Roman citizens."
"The Dutch are famous for many things - but these days it's often forgotten that the Dutch once presided over the world's preeminent maritime trading empire .."

"Nevertheless, the contributions of the Jews, Huguenots, and Scots - which would not have been possible without Britain's turn to tolerance - were not only disproportionate but pivotal."
Amy Chua's descriptions of Britain's relations and treatment of Ireland and India are quite stark and grim; as are many other details in this remarkable book.

Experimental Blog # 176

Quotations and comments from "The Triple Package - How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld

"Indian Americans have the highest income of any Census-tracked ethnic group, almost twice the national average. Chinese, Iranian, and Lebanese Americans are not far behind."
"America's 5 to 6 million Mormons represent just 1.7 percent.{of the U.S. population} Yet a stunning number have risen to the top of America's corporate and political spheres."

"The U.S. Census Bureau used to compile data on religion, but this was largely discontinued after World War II, and today the Census is barred by law from asking mandatory questions about individuals' faith. < > But the fact is that Jews{who are apparently not Census-tracked} are the quintessential successful minority."
"Because the Census does not track religion, there's no authoritative measure of overall Jewish income."

"A few groups in America are not upwardly mobile because they don't want to be. The roughly two hundred thousand Amish living mainly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana are prime examples."

The "three unlikely traits" that the authors call "The Triple Package" are: a superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control. The authors also write about the superior economic group performances of the Cuban Americans of Miami and the more recent immigrants from the West Indies and Africa.