Does Disease Cause Autocracy?

[Flashermac]

Rural Thais still like big families, since in the past they used to lose so many children to diseases. Farmers want all the farm hands they can get.

[Julian2]

Maybe in Isaan but they seem to stop at two up here.

My father in law had seven and told me he would have been happy with two, and the three boys were born last.

The family farm seems to have gone now, all the farms seem to be owned by larger landowners who rely on paid seasonal labour. Even the Hills Tribes come down from the mountains every day to be picked up by their employers.

Some people have a few rai to grow their own rice but I seldom see much else grown personally.

[AF16]

Many theories on this.

 

When it comes to the question of intelligence we know that infections reduce intellectual growth, meaning that parts of the world with a lot of infections/malaria etc have less brain power. It's visible in countries you would expect like in Africa, but it's also noticeable for example within the US where the hot states perform worse than the cold states.

 

We have the matter of religion, where some (not me) say that Christian tenants are beneficiary in creating democracies, financial institutions and a rule of law. Some link capitalism to a part of the Christian culture, I think it was the Gnostics from memory but take that with a pinch of salt.

 

Climate. All developed countries with the exception of some former British colonies (western culture) is in the tempered climate. A tempered climate make you hoard, save, trade and plan for the rainy day (winter).

 

Water. A similar theory links the amount of water to what culture you have. The only one I have a link to and do not take from memory

 

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-04/islam-blamers-ignore-real-mideast-trouble-source-amity-shlaes.html

[Flashermac]

My Mrs' family still has a fair amount of land, though her father managed to squander much of what her mother's family had (descendants of the Chao of Chengtung). Still, nobody has farmed it as long as I've known her. It just sits there as an investment. (I think her share is 5 or 10 rai.)

[Gadfly]

Many theories on this.

 

When it comes to the question of intelligence we know that infections reduce intellectual growth, meaning that parts of the world with a lot of infections/malaria etc have less brain power. It's visible in countries you would expect like in Africa, but it's also noticeable for example within the US where the hot states perform worse than the cold states.

 

We have the matter of religion, where some (not me) say that Christian tenants are beneficiary in creating democracies, financial institutions and a rule of law. Some link capitalism to a part of the Christian culture, I think it was the Gnostics from memory but take that with a pinch of salt.

 

Climate. All developed countries with the exception of some former British colonies (western culture) is in the tempered climate. A tempered climate make you hoard, save, trade and plan for the rainy day (winter).

 

Water. A similar theory links the amount of water to what culture you have. The only one I have a link to and do not take from memory

 

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-04/islam-blamers-ignore-real-mideast-trouble-source-amity-shlaes.html

 

There are many theories along this line, such as those set out in Jerrard Diamond's "Germs, Guns & Steel" [sp & order?]. Geography must influence culture, but its hard to establish the precies link in the same way one might establish an evolutionary link in biology. And these sorts of theories can support or challenge an ideology, meaning they can be politically manipulated and considered offensive even when they are not so manipulated. But, because they do seem so consistent with what we (or at least I) see in this part of the world, they are extremely intriguing. Still they are only 'theories', and damn hard to prove.

 

On the link between Christian tenets, I only buy that if you believe that this form of monotheism eventually leads to a reformation and humanism (involving some rejection of Christian tenets) and ultimately, as I think Nietzsche suggested, atheism ("God is Dead", and what that means for society, which I think was the point of that tome). In other words, it's not Christian tenets that leads to democracy, but humanism and secularism born out of Christian beliefs that creates democracies, leads to the rule of law. A certain other form of monotheism doesn't seem to have this feature or exhibited it yet. Do I have evidence to back this up? Not this late at night (5:30 am telecom tomorrow, so this is late), but I am sure I can find some (albeit, disputable) evidence for this theory.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Corruption probably exist through out the world - the problem is we only see certain types of corruption. I suspect Thais recognize corruption but like us don't recognize our own corruption.