What issues do you think are most important

[Chaerophon]

Cherry picking is a dangerous habit, Chaerphon.  Chaerry picking?  :blink: . 

Perhaps. Exams breed brevity in LurkerLounge responses. I think my points are sufficient to counter his ignorance.

If you look at how fast the Japanese industrialized after the 1850's, and how the Germans progressed in leaps and bounds ahead of their peers in the industrial revolution, the "cultural work ethic" theme is not to be discounted.

Hmmmm... the working culture of Germany and Japan are very different from that of America. Comparing the three may be dangerous - I think that some very different 'ethics' were at work in all three cases. German and Japanese notions of work developed quite differently from those in Britain and the States and we see the results today in their corporatist industrial structures.

In Britain, it was factory owners who modified existing notions of work, and not some inherent 'work ethic' that led to industrial relations of production. The transitional period of industrial development is well documented as being one in which workers needed to be 'molded' into industrial notions of time and work. Thus, my next point...

The American work ethic, industriousness, was one of the real strengths of this nation for a couple of centuries. There has been a perception of that characertistic having been watered down, funnily enough, since about the era of emphasizing diversity and mediocrity.

The vaunted 'American work ethic' is, I would argue, of British inheritance. Moreover, I'm not sure that the 'work ethic' would amount to a lick of good or, in fact, exist at all, if the other factors mentioned were not present. Industrial notions of time management are not required nor, I would venture, possible in countries without a hope of development, dependent or otherwise. 'Work ethic' in this sense seems to me to be largely a product of the development of industrial capacity. With industrial relations of production come industrial notions of time management and 'work'. For confirmation, see Pentland, Polanyi, or Pollard.

In other words, Burma's problem is not 'laziness', nor is it inherent stupidity.