Ethnically diverse societies are the least trusting. See Robert Putnam’s new book:

http://www.bowlingalone.com/

Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal:

Now comes word that diversity as an ideology may be dead, or not worth saving. Robert Putnam, the Harvard don who in the controversial bestseller “Bowling Alone” announced the decline of communal-mindedness amid the rise of home-alone couch potatoes, has completed a mammoth study of the effects of ethnic diversity on communities. His researchers did 30,000 interviews in 41 U.S. communities. Short version: People in ethnically diverse settings don’t want to have much of anything to do with each other. “Social capital” erodes. Diversity has a downside.

Prof. Putnam isn’t exactly hiding these volatile conclusions, though he did introduce them in a journal called Scandinavian Political Studies. A great believer in the efficacy of what social scientists call “reciprocity,” he wasn’t happy with what he found but didn’t mince words describing the results:

“Inhabitants of diverse communities tend to withdraw from collective life, to distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more, but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television.” The diversity nightmare gets worse: They have little confidence in the “local news media.” This after all we’ve done for them.

Colleagues and diversity advocates, disturbed at what was emerging from the study, suggested alternative explanations. Prof. Putnam and his team re-ran the data every which way from Sunday and the result was always the same: Diverse communities may be yeasty and even creative, but trust, altruism and community cooperation fall. He calls it “hunkering down.”

The corrupt client-patron system backed up with bribes for those officials one doesn’t know is more common in the Third World and if it is racist to notice it then racism, as a word, is meaningless. But it is not just in non-white countries where there is such corruption. The Balkans and Italy, especially the south, have plenty of it.

After an ordinary friendly exchange my father would hand them some pesos and we would be on our way. Oddly there seem to be nothing to be fearful about.

The last time I was there nothing happened. Nobody got pulled over. I was kind of looking forward to it.

Fukuyama’s book Trust mentions that business works best when you trust people.

Traditionally, you take bribes and steal because keeping your family rich is more important morally than being honest, especially when everyone else does it.

But in the Protestant ethic, it means strict rules, and the trust goes to those in your church who follow the same rules. If they cheat, they’ll lose esteem of their fellow church members…so you have social pressure to be honest.

A revived Confuscian ethic, or strict Islamic business practices work equally well as a source of morality, but don’t have the social pressures of small churches.

And I am firmly of the opinion that – along the way – those same people enjoy their own under-the-table kickbacks. And then, there is all that lovely oil money pouring into the Ivy League Middle East Programs throughout the West.

Yep, who among all those knowledgeable amused professional diplomats want this gravy train to stop?? No wonder they have done everything possible to hinder Bush and his administration. And truly, 9/11, from this point of view, really is just a blip in the good times…

However bad the corruption is, incitement to mass murder is worse.

During a trip to South Korea to install a ACD (automatic call distributor) system for the local airlines, I was shocked to find out that a rather hefty payment (bribe) was required before installation could begin. There was also the attempts at personal bribes that shocked me at the time. Oh well, I suspect that that not only occurs frequently today, but also is probably a requirement of our own US businesses (when they can get away with it).

Might be a bit jaded though – still trying to maintain an idealistic outlook…(too old to change now).