经济发展的文化障碍:经常被夸大,通常是短暂的

Cultural Obstacles to Economic Development:Often Overstated,Usually Transitory

某一文化特性的可预见的后果,可能会因抑制诚实言论的政治言辞和社会压力而变得暗淡。那些文化激进人士的活动很可能代表了社会精英阶层,因而很可能扭曲了公众的意愿。现实要比本文中的案例复杂得多,在由全球化所带来的物质进步和对地方文化的保护之间存在着二分法。首先,当今的全球化浪潮肯定会促进物质进步;其次,尽管文化激进人士抗议不止,但对地方文化的破坏不一定是坏事。对全球化及其所带来的文化同化的抗拒也可能是保守的或不合乎人意的。

The perceived pay-offs of a given cultural trait may be clouded by political rhetoric and by social pressures that discourage honest expression. Cultural activists on the grounds that these individual often come from elite sections and are thus likely to misrepresent the desires of the masses. Situations are more complex than the examples in this essay, there is a dichotomy between material progress via globalization on one hand, and the preservation of local cultures on the other. First, the current wave of globalization will necessarily ensure material progress and that material progress is not possible in any other ways. Second, that destruction on local cultures may not be a bad thing, protests by cultural activists notwithstanding. The protest over globalization and its cultural impact is because of the uniform, homogenized culture that globalization imposes, could be equally conservative or undesirable.