In Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in this country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. Pundits and politically motivated economists trumpet ambiguous statistics and sensational theories while ignoring the true determinant of income inequality: the production of wealth. We cannot properly understand inequality if we focus exclusively on the distribution of wealth and ignore wealth production factors such as geography, demography, and culture. Sowell contends that liberals have a particular interest in misreading the data and chastises them for using income inequality as an argument for the welfare state. Refuting Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman, and others on the left, Sowell draws on accurate empirical data to show that the inequality is not nearly as extreme or sensational as we have been led to believe. Transcending partisanship through a careful examination of data, Wealth, Poverty, and Politics reveals the truth about the most explosive political issue of our time.
WEALTH, POVERTY AND POLITICS An International Perspective THOMAS SOWELL A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York www.ebook777.com Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Sowell Published by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews For information, address Basic Books, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107 Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934248 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-0-465-08293-3 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-0-465-07348-1 (e-book) 10 C O N T E N T S Chapter 1: Issues Chapter 2: Geographic Factors 11 Chapter 3: Cultural Factors 53 Chapter 4: Social Factors 93 Chapter 5: Political Factors 128 Chapter 6: Implications and Prospects 173 Epilogue 218 Acknowledgements Endnotes Index 243 245 307 iii www.ebook777.com Chapter I S S U E S S hocked as we may be today by drastic contrasts between the standards of living in modern industrial nations and the standards of living in Third World countries, such disparities have been common for thousands of years of recorded history These disparities have extended beyond wealth to the things that create wealth— including the knowledge, skills, habits and discipline that have developed unequally in different geographic, cultural and political settings The ancient Greeks had geometry, philosophy, architecture and literature at a time when Britain was a land of illiterate tribal peoples, living at a primitive level Athens had the Acropolis— whose ruins are still impressive today, thousands of years later— at a time when there was not a single building in all of Britain The ancient Greeks had Plato, Aristotle, Euclid and other landmark figures who helped lay the intellectual foundations of Western civilization, at a time when there was not a single Briton whose name had entered the pages of history Scholars have estimated that there were parts of Europe in ancient times that were living at a level that Greece had transcended thousands of years earlier.1 There were other complex civilizations in the ancient world— not just in Greece but also in Egypt and China, for example— at a time when peoples in various parts of Europe and elsewhere were just beginning to learn the rudiments of agriculture.2 Vast disparities in wealth, and in wealth-creating capacity, have been common for millennia But while large economic inequalities Wealth, Poverty and Politics have persisted throughout the recorded history of the human race, the particular pattern of those inequalities has changed drastically over the centuries While Greeks were far more advanced than Britons in ancient times, Britons were far more advanced than Greeks in the nineteenth century, when Britain led the world into the industrial age The Chinese were for centuries more advanced than any of the Europeans, including among their discoveries and inventions the compass, printing, paper, rudders and the porcelain plates that the West called “chinaware” or simply “china.” Cast iron was produced in China a thousand years before it was produced in Europe.3 A Chinese admiral made a voyage of discovery longer than Columbus’ voyage, generations before Columbus’ voyage, and in ships larger and more advanced than Columbus’ ships.4 But the relative positions of China and Europe also reversed over the centuries Various other peoples, living in various other parts of the world, have had their own eras of leadership in particular fields or in advances across many specialties Agriculture, perhaps the most life-changing advance in the evolution of human societies, came to Europe from the Middle East in ancient times Agriculture made cities possible, while huntergatherers required far too much land to provide themselves with food for them to settle permanently in such compact and densely populated communities Moreover, for centuries cities around the world have produced a wholly disproportionate share of all the advances in the arts, sciences and technology, compared to the achievements of a similar number of people scattered in the hinterlands.5 Because Greeks were located nearer to the Middle East than the peoples of Northern Europe or Western Europe, agriculture spread to the Greeks earlier and they could become urbanized earlier— by centuries— and advanced in many ways far beyond peoples elsewhere who had not yet received the many benefits made possible by urban living The accident of geographic location could not create genius, but it made possible a setting in which many people could develop their own mental potential far beyond what was possible among Issues bands of hunter-gatherers roaming over vast territory, preoccupied with the pressing need to search for food Geography is just one of the influences behind vast economic differences among peoples and places Moreover, these differences are not simply differences in standards of living, important as such differences are Different geographic settings also expand or restrict the development of people’s own mental potential into what economists call their human capital by presenting different peoples with access to a wider or narrower cultural universe These geographic settings differ not only horizontally— as between Europe, Asia and Africa, for example— but also vertically, as between peoples of the plains versus peoples living up in the mountains As one geographic study put it: Mountain regions discourage the budding of genius because they are areas of isolation, confinement, remote from the great currents of men and ideas that move along the river valleys.6 Many mountain regions around the world— whether the Appalachian Mountains in the United States, the Rif Mountains of Morocco, the Pindus Mountains of Greece, the Himalayas or other mountains elsewhere— show very similar patterns of poverty and backwardness As distinguished French historian Fernand Braudel put it, “Mountain life persistently lagged behind the plain.”7 This was especially so during the millennia before the transportation and communications revolutions of the past two centuries, which belatedly brought more of the progress of the outside world to isolated mountain villages What these technological revolutions could not bring to the mountains, however, were the previous centuries of cultural development that other people had in more favorable environments Peoples living in mountains could try to catch up, but of course the rest of the world would not be standing still while they were doing so Mountains are just one geographic feature, and geography is just one influence on human development But whether considering Wealth, Poverty and Politics geography or culture, isolation is a recurring factor in poverty and backwardness around the world, whether that is physical isolation or cultural isolation, for any number of particular reasons that will be explored in the chapters ahead Whatever the reasons for economic disparities among peoples and nations, such disparities have been as common in modern times as in ancient times In the twenty-first century, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany have each had more than three times the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Albania, Serbia or Ukraine, and Norway has had more than five times the per capita GDP of these latter countries.8 Such economic disparities are not peculiar to Europe In Asia as well, Japan has more than three times the per capita GDP of China and more than nine times the per capita GDP of India.9 SubSaharan Africa has less than one-tenth the per capita GDP of the countries of the Euro zone.10 Within nations, as well as between nations, income disparities abound, whether between classes, races or other subdivisions of the human species Reactions to these economic disparities have ranged from resignation to revolution Because many people regard these disparities in their own country as strange, if not sinister, it is necessary to note that such disparities are not peculiar to any particular time or place Therefore explanations of economic differences cannot be confined to factors peculiar to a particular time or place, such as modern capitalism or the industrial revolution,* much less to factors that are politically convenient or emotionally satisfying Factors which raise morally momentous issues, such as conquest and enslavement, cannot automatically be assumed to be equally * According to the authors of Why Nations Fail, “World inequality today exists because during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries some nations were able to take advantage of the Industrial Revolution and the technologies and methods of organization that it brought while others were unable to so.” Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (New York: Crown Business, 2012), p 271 But economic inequalities among nations did not begin with the industrial revolution, and the international inequalities of ancient times were by no means necessarily less than the inequalities of today Issues momentous as causal explanations of current economic disparities They may be or they may not, in particular cases Peoples or nations may be rich or poor because (1) they produced more or produced less than others or (2) they seized more of what others had produced or had what they produced seized from them What anyone might prefer to believe at a given place or time has nothing to with what the hard facts are There is no question that the Spaniards’ conquests in the Western Hemisphere, for example, not only brutalized the conquered peoples and destroyed viable civilizations, but also drained vast amounts of existing wealth in gold and silver from the Western Hemisphere to Spain— 200 tons of gold and more than 18,000 tons of silver11— the result of the looting of existing treasures from the indigenous peoples and the forced labor of that same population in gold and silver mines Nor was Spain unique in such behavior But the question here, however, is: To what extent can transfers of wealth explain economic differences between peoples and nations in the world today? Spain is today one of the poorer countries in Western Europe, surpassed economically by countries like Switzerland and Norway, which have never had comparable empires The vast wealth that poured into Spain in its “golden age” could have been invested in its economy or in its people But it was not It was spent Spaniards themselves spoke of gold as pouring down on Spain like rain on a roof, flowing on away immediately.12 Nor has it been uncommon in history for a vast amount of human suffering— whether by conquered or enslaved people— to produce nothing more than a transient enrichment of a ruling elite The monumental moral depredations of Spain in the Western Hemisphere had very little causal effect on the long-run prosperity of the Spanish economy As late as 1900, more than half the people in Spain were still illiterate,13 while most blacks in the United States were literate, despite having been free for less than 50 years.14 A century later, in the year 2000, the real per capita income in Spain was slightly lower than the real per capita income of black Americans.15 www.ebook777.com Index 319 Insinuation, 181, 210, 248 (note 16) Intellectuals, 60, 62, 69, 74, 86, 87, 117, 190, 193–194, 195, 206, 240–242 Intelligence genetics: 10, 46–47, 51, 54–55, 57, 107, 111–112, 120–127, 165–166, 198 IQ: 10, 33, 60, 107, 108, 112–113, 121, 122–123, 125, 126, 255 (note 93) Interactions of Factors (see also Combinations and Permutations), 8, 10, 12, 13–14, 25–26, 37–38, 39, 42, 49, 169 Inventions, 2, 12, 24, 91–92, 176 IQ Tests, 10, 33, 60, 107, 108, 112–113, 121, 122–123, 125, 126, 255 (note 93) Irish Americans, 86–87, 158–159, 160, 211, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232 Iron, 2, 45–46, 47, 78, 92, 95, 135, 138 Islam, 30, 51, 62, 69–70, 136, 139, 226, 285 (note 52) Islands, 12, 18, 24, 30, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 58, 63, 69, 100, 125, 131, 135, 137, 175, 176 Isolation, 3–4, 12–13, 15, 18, 27, 28, 29–30, 44–45, 46–47, 49, 50, 67, 106, 107, 125, 128, 131, 132, 133–135, 139–140, 148–149, 175–176, 223–224 Israel, 23 Italy, 25, 29, 31, 97, 100, 125, 131, 186, 196, 202, 203, 204, 231, 237 Japan, 4, 7, 10, 25, 50, 66–68, 69, 77, 79, 82, 84, 95, 96, 97, 124, 129, 140, 141, 175, 176–177, 195n, 200, 205–206, 226 Japanese, 39, 50, 67–68, 74, 77, 97, 129, 144, 157, 158, 205–206, 212, 241 Jews, 53, 57, 59–61, 62, 63, 65, 70, 74, 75, 81, 85, 86, 102, 109, 110, 121, 129, 139, 144, 145, 146, 157, 158, 159, 160, 168, 171, 200, 211, 218, 226, 235, 241, 274–275 (note 29) King, Martin Luther, Jr., 116 Korea, 124, 143, 200, 279–280 (note 93) Kristof, Nicholas, 152–153, 154 Krugman, Paul, 181, 221 320 Wealth, Poverty and Politics Labor Force Participation Rate, 223 Lakes, 16, 19, 22, 23, 133 Landes, David S., 11, 22–23, 53, 92, 243 Languages, 30, 44, 50, 56, 58, 60, 67, 69, 70–71, 72–74, 76–77, 84–85, 87–88, 115, 122, 131, 132, 135, 141, 149, 160 Latvia, 56, 72, 73, 74 Law and Order, 30, 108 Leaders, 74, 75–77, 107, 109, 112, 116, 142, 145, 147, 148–150, 157, 159, 168, 197 Lebanese, 39, 53, 57, 61–63, 74, 81, 100, 144, 157, 158, 241 Life Chances, 99, 152, 209, 210 Literacy, 1, 5, 50, 56, 60, 61, 155, 205, 224 Liu, Na, 244 Localization of Blame, 221–223 Location, 2–3, 16, 50–52 London, 8, 38, 102, 145, 150, 164, 165, 174 Lower East Side of New York, 60, 116–117, 237n Malays, 58, 85, 90, 96, 142–143, 188, 211–212, 241 Malaysia, 74, 76, 85, 96, 100, 142–143, 188, 211 Marwaris, 81, 144 Mathematics, 24, 117–118 Media, 6, 143–144, 157, 170–171, 172, 178, 181, 188, 208 Medical Science, 15, 49, 60–61, 69, 110, 192–193, 237, 238 Mediterranean Sea, 22, 23–24, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32, 35, 38, 49, 51 Mental Ability developed capabilities: 106–107, 120 innate potential: 106, 107–108, 120–127 Mental Tests, 10, 33, 60, 107, 108, 112–113, 121, 122–123, 125, 126, 255 (note 93) IQ tests: 10, 33, 60, 107, 108, 112–113, 121, 122–123, 125, 126, 255 (note 93) predictive validity: 107–108 Merit, 192–193, 195 Microorganisms, 39, 48, 49, 235 Index 321 Middle East, 2, 13, 14–15, 30, 35, 43, 47, 50, 57, 69, 70, 87, 100–101, 130, 224, 226 Migration, 34, 53, 55, 57–65, 99–102, 200–207 Military, 34, 52, 55–56, 221 Minimum Wage Laws, 153–154 Mississippi River, 20, 22n, 23, 26 Mobility, 103, 104 geographic: 99–102 social: 60–65, 93, 102–106, 178–183, 209, 210 Morality honesty: 78–82 moral issues versus causal issues: 4–6, 151, 185 Mountains, 3–4, 13, 20, 22, 23, 27–35, 36, 38–40, 41, 45, 49, 50, 66, 107, 125, 131, 132–135, 151, 175, 196, 231, 237 backwardness: 3, 27, 30 fragmentation of people: 133–135 geography: 27–29, 34–35 handicrafts: 231 passes: 28, 133 poverty: 3, 27, 231, 237 valleys: 27, 28, 44, 133 Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 86–87, 173 Multiculturalism, 65, 126–127, 160 Murray, Charles, 243 Nations and Empires, 130–141 Natural Resources, 7, 13, 53, 78–79, 80–81 Navigability, 16–17, 18, 19, 20–23, 24, 28, 133 Neighborhoods, 100–101, 116–117, 160, 162 Netherlands, 25, 82, 124 New England, 41–42, 112, 113–114, 186 New Guinea, 30 322 Wealth, Poverty and Politics New York, 38, 59, 60, 64, 81, 82, 85, 100, 101, 102, 108–109, 110, 111, 114, 116–117, 143, 152, 155–156, 158–159, 160, 161, 171, 172, 186, 209, 213, 290 (note 88) Niger River, 20, 138 Nigeria and Nigerians, 7, 9, 51, 53, 74, 77, 86, 87, 91, 97, 137–139, 144, 158, 213, 241 Nile River, 19, 23, 26, 36 Non-Judgmental Attitudes, 155, 160, 161, 164, 166, 171, 172, 191 North Africa, 13, 30, 34, 43, 45, 47, 49, 69, 70, 136 North America, 8n, 9, 23, 26n, 38, 42, 43, 62, 201, 206, 207 lakes: 19, 23 mountains: 3, 23, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 107, 125, 132 rivers: 17, 19, 20, 22n, 23, 26, 41 Norway, 4, 5, 82, 169, 186 Oceans, 8, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23–24, 25, 26, 38, 42, 43, 51, 71, 121, 128, 129, 163, 166, 176 Oil, 13, 17, 53, 78 Opportunity, 14, 99, 103, 106, 143, 169, 209–210 Ottoman Empire, 30, 70, 74, 84–85, 136, 144, 145, 146, 158, 200, 284 (note 49) Pacific Ocean, 11, 17, 22, 176 The Past, 15–16, 86–87, 151 Patents, 83–84, 91–92 Peddlers, 60, 61, 62 Peru, 58, 74, 205–206, 241 Philanthropy, 195, 196–197 Philippines, 74, 76, 77, 139, 145, 146 Piketty, Thomas, 180–181, 182, 183 Plains, 3, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 30, 31, 36, 37, 41, 50, 66, 78, 175 Poland, 50, 125, 130, 186 Index 323 Polarization (see Politics, polarization) Polio, 110, 213 Politics, 1, 128–172, 198, 199, 200, 203 nations and empires: 130–141 polarization: 74–77, 86, 87–88, 141–151 secession: 149 welfare state: 151–172 Population, 93–106 demographic composition: 97–99 size: 27, 28, 93–97, 237 Pounds, N.J.G., 243 Poverty, 3, 27, 31, 57–58, 59, 94, 97, 103, 111, 117, 143, 145, 147–148, 152, 154–156, 167, 168, 174, 177, 194, 199, 209, 211, 231, 237, 238 Privilege versus Achievements (see also Advantages and Disadvantages), 109, 110, 211–212, 213, 215, 216 Production and Productivity, 5, 6, 7, 14, 75, 97, 141–142, 145, 151, 177, 192–193, 214, 215–216 Professions, 60–61, 63–64, 73–74 Purcell, Victor, 243 Race, 32, 43, 99, 111, 135, 159, 165, 197–198, 219, 223 eugenics: 121, 125–126 racial and ethnic differences: 10, 107, 108, 218 racial and ethnic leaders: 74, 75–77, 107, 112, 116 racial and ethnic polarization: 141–151 racial and ethnic violence: 143, 144, 145–147, 156–157, 159, 169–172, 200 Radius of Trust, 78, 81, 131, 132 Railroads, 17, 66, 140, 214 Rain, 20, 27, 34, 35, 37–38, 41, 45, 134 Randomness, 11–12, 36–37, 59, 62, 82, 100, 101, 102, 185–190 Rangefinders, 176 Rawls, John, 190–191, 192, 193, 194 324 Wealth, Poverty and Politics Resentment, 61, 74, 75, 77, 110, 114, 141, 143, 144–146, 148, 206 Retrogression, 111, 113, 114–117, 155–172, 223 Rif Mountains, 3, 27, 28, 30, 34 Rivers, 3, 16–23, 26, 34–36, 37, 41–42, 44, 66, 133, 138, 140 navigability: 16–17, 18, 19, 20–23 river valleys: Robinson, Eugene, 184, 185 Rockefeller, John D., 214–215 Roman Empire, 19, 49, 52, 55, 65, 72, 106, 107, 129, 130, 131, 137, 150, 151, 237, 280 (note 2) Romania, 56, 73, 86, 87, 144, 155, 241 Romans, 19, 43, 49, 52, 55, 106, 107, 130, 137, 150, 151, 241 Russia (see also Soviet Union), 22, 26, 50, 55, 56, 60, 73, 79–80, 83–84, 101, 186, 196–197, 202 Salk, Jonas, 110 Sarnoff, David, 103 Science, 24, 83, 117–118 Scotland, 10, 30, 34, 52, 69, 77, 122n, 125, 186, 197, 200, 226 Seas, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26n, 66, 67, 131, 136 Secession, 149 Shaker Heights, 115–116, 210 Sierra Leone, 9, 61–62, 63, 100 Singapore, 38, 84, 96, 131, 200 Sinhalese, 76, 84, 147, 157, 172 Skills, 1, 50, 55, 73, 74, 75, 83, 85, 87, 88–89, 97–98, 141, 144, 148, 158–159, 190, 213, 215–216 Slavery, 7, 51, 111, 131, 135–137, 150–151, 154, 159, 165, 166, 176, 196, 199, 201, 221–223 Social Classes versus Age Cohorts, 181, 189 “Social Justice,” 103, 190–193, 194–195, 218–219 Social Mobility, 60–65, 93, 102–106, 178–183, 209, 210 Index 325 Soil, 11–12, 13–14, 17, 25, 26, 27, 28, 35, 36–38, 39, 45, 47, 77, 78, 201, 203 fertility: 11–12, 14, 25, 27, 28, 36–38, 39, 45, 47, 66, 78, 201, 202 topsoil depth: 37, 200 water retention: 13, 14 Sorting, 102 South America, 26, 34, 37, 38, 42, 43, 55, 57, 62, 102, 133, 134, 155, 175, 201, 204, 205, 206, 207 Southern Europe, 14–15, 21, 22, 38, 70, 100, 101, 121–122, 124, 136, 223–224 Southern United States, 28, 32, 33, 89–90, 91–92, 107, 112, 114–115, 121–122, 123, 140, 156, 157, 160, 186–187, 195–196, 199, 229, 230, 271 (note 171) Soviet Union (see also Russia), 78–79, 80, 96, 97 Spain, 5, 33–34, 35, 43, 49, 70–71, 75, 125, 186, 201–202, 203, 204, 206, 207 Sports, 152, 187, 197, 209, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232–233 Sri Lanka, 74, 76, 77, 84, 86, 87, 139, 144, 147, 157, 158, 172, 285 (note 52) Standard of Living, 1, 6, 12, 33, 59–60, 75, 79, 80, 89, 94, 96, 129, 145, 148, 150, 151, 152, 154–155, 167, 177, 190 Statistics, 10, 99, 108, 119, 120, 177–185, 188, 190, 194 Stiglitz, Joseph, 209, 210, 211 Stuyvesant High School, 59, 85, 108–109, 110–111, 156, 209 Suicide, 58, 59 Sweden, 169, 186 Switzerland, 4, 5, 7, 29, 102, 133, 134, 231 Tamils, 51, 74, 76, 77, 84, 144, 147, 158, 172 Technology, 2, 3, 4n, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 28, 29, 30, 40, 42, 52, 67, 68–69, 70, 71, 85, 88, 91, 97–98, 118, 124, 129, 206 Temperate Zones, 12, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 134 Temperature, 8, 13, 22, 24, 25, 27, 35, 36, 37, 38–39, 40, 41, 134, 175 Thames River, 26 Thernstrom, Abigail, 119, 243 Thernstrom, Stephan, 119, 243 Third World, 1, 54, 81, 91, 145, 147–148, 194, 227, 241 326 Wealth, Poverty and Politics Time the past: 15–16, 86–87, 151 time horizon: 116 Tornadoes, 11, 174–175, 225 Transportation, 3, 15, 16, 17–24, 28–29, 41, 42–43, 44, 45, 66, 67, 69, 88, 96, 131, 133, 136, 139–140, 215–216, 237 Tropics, 12, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 134 Truth, 197, 208, 210, 212, 214, 217 Uganda, 75, 144, 241 Unemployment, 153–154, 157, 159 United States of America, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, 22–23, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 37, 38, 41, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63–64, 67–68, 69, 77, 79, 80, 82, 84, 86, 87, 89, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 121, 125, 129, 130, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144, 149, 153–154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 174–175, 176, 177, 178, 180, 186, 187–188, 194, 195, 196, 197, 200, 207, 211, 217, 221, 222–223, 226, 229, 230, 234, 238, 239, 240, 250 (note 10), 271 (note 171) Urbanization, 2, 13–14, 15, 33, 106, 150, 156, 205 Uruguay, 37 Victimhood, 141, 169, 184, 219, 220, 221, 225, 235 Violence, 33, 75, 77, 86, 115, 122, 132, 137, 139, 143–144, 145–147, 150, 156–157, 159, 162–163, 169–172, 200, 222–223, 240 Volga River, 22, 26 Voluntary Philanthropic Activities, 112 Index 327 War, 34, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62, 68n, 75, 83, 91, 92, 100, 107, 112, 113, 122, 124, 129, 130, 137, 140, 144, 145, 146, 147, 158, 171, 172, 176, 186, 195, 211, 212, 241 Washington, D.C., 8, 112, 114, 154 Waterways, 16–26, 28, 34–35, 44, 133 drinking water: 16, 17 harbors: 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 41, 66, 129 irrigation: 16 lakes: 16, 19, 22, 23, 133 navigability: 16–17, 18, 19, 20–23, 24, 28, 133 oceans: 8, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23–24, 25, 26, 38, 42, 43, 51, 71, 121, 128, 129, 163, 166, 176 rivers: 3, 16–23, 26, 34–36, 37, 41–42, 44, 66, 133, 138, 140 transportation: 17–18 Wealth, 1, 6, 7, 183–184, 199 Welfare State, 7, 126, 151–172, 174, 177, 195n, 217, 223, 232 Western Europe, 2, 5, 8n, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 37, 41, 42, 54, 66, 69, 72, 79, 91, 96, 129, 140, 175, 177, 201 Western Hemisphere, 5, 11, 19, 21, 22, 24, 35, 37, 41–42, 43, 44, 45, 47–49, 57, 58, 65, 81, 129, 134, 135–136, 137, 158, 201, 206 Whites, 85, 101, 107, 109, 112 in the American South: 32, 33, 89–90, 107, 112, 115n, 121–122, 196, 199, 229, 230, 271 (note 171) in England: 163–166, 168 Why Nations Fail, 4n, 9, 174, 175 Work, 32, 50, 58, 59, 60, 62–63, 64, 74, 78, 83, 89–90, 91, 97–98, 99, 131, 142, 143, 146, 152, 153, 158–159, 162, 167–168, 178–179, 185, 189–190, 192–193, 196, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 210–211 Wright Brothers, 83, 103 Yangtze River, 19, 20 328 Zaire River, 20, 23 Zambezi River, 19–20 Wealth, Poverty and Politics [...]... under Moroccan sultans, and the uplands of India under the Mughal rulers.76 Both the Scottish highlands and the highlands of colonial Ceylon remained independent for many years after their respective nearby lowlands were conquered and incorporated into another cultural universe In centuries past, it was common in many mountain regions around the world for the highland people to raid and plunder the more... these neighboring towns and some women have never left Montegrano.71 29 30 Wealth, Poverty and Politics It was not only infrastructure and technological advances that reached mountain communities belatedly So did cultures prevailing on the plains below Although Islam has for centuries been the prevailing religion and culture of the Middle East and North Africa, a different religion and culture continued... mountainous regions of Armenia and Abyssinia And though people in the Rif Mountains of Morocco eventually adopted Islam, this was centuries after the people on the land below had already become Muslims.72 Language likewise moved slowly up from the lowlands to the highlands Gaelic continued to survive in the Scottish highlands long after the Scottish lowlanders were speaking English, and the Vlach language... necessarily true in most cases, since there are poverty- stricken countries like Venezuela and Nigeria with rich natural resources and prosperous countries like Japan and Switzerland with very few natural resources Such results have led to a dismissal, not only of geographic determinism, but also of geography as a major influence in other senses 7 8 Wealth, Poverty and Politics Geography, however, influences... seas Moreover, the coastline of Europe is increased by the many islands and peninsulas that make up more than one-third of that continent’s total land area By contrast, the African coastline is smooth, with few substantial indentations, few good natural harbors, and fewer islands and peninsulas— which make up only 2 percent of Africa’s land area Moreover, coastal waters around sub-Saharan Africa are often... larger and larger over the years, today it is no longer navigable by most ocean-going ships, though it is still navigable by many.29 The Zambezi River in Africa has highly variable depths from place to place and from rainy season to dry season In some times and places 19 20 Wealth, Poverty and Politics the Zambezi is barely navigable by boats requiring just 3 feet of water, though at other times and places... outlet for a land of thriving industry and commerce In Russia, the Yenisey and the Lena rivers each have more than twice as much water as the Volga, but it is the Volga that carries more shipping tonnage than any other Russian river, because it flows through regions containing most of the nation’s population and most of its industry and farmland What these differences between waterways, and within a... C L I M AT E Land has many aspects The simple fact of the shape of the land determines how water will flow, and that in turn has major implications for the fate of people living in a given region The physical and chemical composition of the soil is crucial for agriculture, as is climate Special features of the land, such as mountains, deserts and rift valleys, can fragment a population and isolate the... having a fundamentally very 9 10 Wealth, Poverty and Politics different cultural legacy from that of England and a very different economic and political experience going forward after independence Believers in genetic determinism likewise seek to discredit cultural factors, which compete with their view that it is innate differences in intelligence among individuals and groups which explain differences... scientists 11 12 Wealth, Poverty and Politics call mollisols are neither evenly nor randomly distributed around the world Such soils are found almost exclusively in the temperate zones of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and are scattered very unevenly there, but are virtually non-existent in the tropics.5 This was especially important during the ages when agriculture was the most prevalent and most