Good Societies: Psychological Progress

     One of the important conceptual issues/discoveries is that, although money is extraordinarily useful, different cultures and societies can - with about the same amount of money - produce very different outcomes for their members.

      Here is a brief example (below) from the World Bank's latest Development Report. They group countries into several categories by GDP/capita: Low-Income ($935 or less), Low-Middle Income ($936-$3,705), Upper-Middle Income ($3,706-$11,455). Other outcome measures show similar results.

      This probably is a complex problem and it is not my field of research. However there seem to be at least two major dimensions: 1.) Societies that have fallen apart (e.g., the horrific problems with anomie-linked alcoholism and drug use, etc. and the collapse of the public health system and life expectancy in the Russian Federation) and poor societies that never came together (some African countries); 2.) Discrimination, which remains ubiquitous. (It undermines public education for women; it is one of the greatest sources of violent conflict, especially involving ethnic groups, etc. Often it expresses a human-sustained scarcity (of respect, in systems of hierarchical status) that is more usefully addressed by psychological change rather than money.)

     Just a suggestion: This might be a good time for WAAS to convene a strategic planning group of development-oriented organizations to focus on renewed progress for human rights - specifically, an End to Discrimination campaign. [There is a good, "Yes, We Can!," example in the US, in the election of a Black President against the background of a civil rights movement.] We ought to find ways to use the new communication technologies to create the shared expectation that this, the end of discrimination, is the natural agenda for cultures and political systems worldwide. If a breakthrough is possible, humankind can get revolutionary progress in the next several years even if GDP/capita isn't available as the engine.

Low GDP/Capita
     Average                  56
     High
        Vietnam               68
     Low
        Mozambique        42

Low-Middle GDP/capita
    Average                   67
    High
       Sri Lanka              72
     Low
        Angola                41

Upper-Middle GDP/capita
    Average                   67
    High
        Costa Rica           76
    Low
        Russian Fed.        59
        South Africa         49

Low GDP/capita
    Average                   61
    Low               
        Burkina Faso        24
        Chad                    26
    High                
        Tajikistan            69
        Niger                   69

Low-Middle GDP/capita
    Average                  89
    Low
        Morocco              52
    High
        China                  91
        Indonesia           90

Upper-Middle GDP/capita
    Average                 93
    Low
        Libya                  84
    High
        Costa Rica          95