1. As you see it, is Western democratic capitalism or state capitalism more likely to prevail over the long term? Explain.
2. Roger Cohen, writing in The New York Times, made the interesting point that India, as of 2010, had more cell phones than toilets; 563.7 million people connected to modern communication, but only 366 million had access to modern sanitation. He says this imbalance could be seen as “skewed development” favoring private goods over public necessities. In India and in America, he sees a kind of schizophrenia where we are increasingly autonomous, wanting to be left alone; our technology connecting us, allowing us to feel no need for government until a crisis, like the recent meltdown, arrives. Then many desperately plead for the government to save us.
a. Can we have an autonomous, free market culture, substantially contemptuous of government, and still maintain a stable, healthy, and fair national and global com-munity? Explain.
3. a. Would all nations be well served if they adopted American, free market, democratic values? Explain.
4. In what ways might American culture be viewed as offensive and threatening to Muslims and others around the globe?