As a whole, I agree with what Ferguson had to say. He asked many of the same questions that Jared Diamond attempted to tackle and did a good job explaining with examples why he thought the west is more wealthy. I completely agree with what he says in regards to competition and a legal structure contributing to the west's success. I also agree with what he said about the west being caught up to by the rest of the world. Americans are getting lazier while the competition and work ethic is growing stronger in every other country. When we watched the video of what school was like in India and China, everyone in our class realized how good we have it. We are almost forced into education and honestly, not every kid wants to be in school. That genuine desire to learn is what is leading the other countries to catch up with us.
I slightly sidetracked on the work ethic app, but I agree with most of his other apps anyway. The consumerism app I completely agree with. We buy crap we don't need but that is what helps circulate money through the economy. Ferguson gave some good examples of modern day "experiments" dividing countries, but I still believe geographic location has at least some impact on who gets wealthy. Simple things like cash crops, access to trade routes, and natural resources are things that just not every country is blessed with. Modern medicine and the scientific revolution I also agree with, but there were reasons these advances arose in the locations they did and Ferguson did not particularly elaborate on that. For such a long talk this guy did make a few jokes and overall keep it interesting. It is always good to hear some new theories on issues as complex as these, so I enjoyed this presentation. However, I am almost positive this Scottish dude will not re-tweet me if I try to contact him.
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