Lawrence E. Harrison: The Central Liberal Truth Study Guide

Scholars Crossing Faculty Publications and Presentations Helms School of Government 2009 Lawrence E. Harrison: The Central Liberal Truth Study Guide Steven Alan Samson Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs Part of the Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Political Science Commons, and the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Samson, Steven Alan, "Lawrence E. Harrison: The Central Liberal Truth Study Guide" (2009). Faculty Publications and Presentations. 139. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/139 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Helms School of Government at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LAWRENCE E. HARRISON: THE CENTRAL LIBERAL TRUTH STUDY GUIDE, 2009 Steven Alan Samson CHAPTER TWO: DISAGGREGATING “CULTURE” Study Questions This book is one of several by several authors that grow out of the Culture Matters Research Project of the late 1990s. Mariano Grondona developed the grid of twenty-five elements of culture. A similar approach was developed by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his classic study, The Silent Language (1959). Ronald Inglehart has tested data from the World Values Survey and has found considerable correlation to support the Progress Typology about which he written. 1. Worldview In what ways can religion be a powerful force for progress? How did Tocqueville view the New World form of Christianity? What did John Wesley believe about the relationship between religion and riches? How do progressive and progress-resistant cultures differ with regard to time, destiny, and wealth? Schadenfreude means the enjoyment of another’s misfortune. What does George Foster mean by the Universal Peasant Culture? Among other things, it views life as a zero-sum game. 2. Values/Virtues How well do trust, fair play, punctuality, and education correlate with growth competitiveness? [Francis Fukuyama wrote a book about Trust; Salvador de Madariaga and John Rawls focused on the importance of fair play in the Anglo-American tradition]. What cultures favor these values? Disregard them? 3. Economic Behavior Fatalistic cultures are risk averse while progress-prone cultures calculate risk [the importance of which is set out in a book entitled Risk]. Why does Mariano Grondona regard competition as a form of cooperation? 4. Social Behavior What is meant by “social capital?” How may it be nurtured in a cultural environment of low trust? How does the role of religion differ in progress-prone and progressresistant societies? Review Max Weber Democracy in America progress-resistant cultures Image of Limited Good punctuality corruption social capital Protestant ethic John Wesley George Foster costs of tardiness Joseph Schumpeter Edward Banfield Alexis de Tocqueville progressive cultures Universal Peasant Culture fair play entrepreneurship Moral Basis of a Backward Society