728 The Narrow Corridor of Freedom: How States and Society Determine the Fate of Freedom

Beast Press: I just discovered recently that my favorite "Why States Fail: The Roots of Power, Prosperity and Poverty" published their new book "The Narrow Corridor of Liberty" in 2019, and in January 2020, Acropolis published a traditional Chinese version Chinese Version.

In their book The Narrow Corridor of Liberty, Darren Essomeru and James Robinson pointed out that the Ming Dynasty was an era of reversed fortunes in China, and the fundamental reason was that "the court managed to tightly regulate and control society, and the authoritarian power of the state eliminated the Economic Opportunities and Incentives for Most Chinese". At the same time, the West made great strides toward great voyages, the Reformation, and the Renaissance.

The two scholars believe that the development model forged by Communist China cannot ensure strong innovation in an economic system arranged along an authoritarian line. China has achieved rapid economic growth, but its success has been based on solving specific problems in a narrow field, responding to government demands.

However, “diversification and continuous innovation in a broad field of future growth depends not only on solving existing problems, but also on dreaming of new ones, which requires autonomy and experimentation. You can provide enormous resources, Individuals can be ordered to work hard, but people cannot be ordered to be creative. Creativity is the key to continuous innovation, relying heavily on a lot of personal experimentation, then thinking in your own unique way, breaking the rules, experiencing failure, and occasionally success. But , how can you achieve all this without freedom?"

So, the two scholars concluded: China, like all the precedents of authoritarian growth, is unlikely to succeed in this task.

The great book that answers the greatest problems in the history of human politics. --Judd Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

The author of "Why the Nation Fails" is a seven-year macro model

The question is not just "why countries fail", but the fact that some countries can succeed.

***

Why do some countries guarantee liberty while others slaughter their citizens? There are still some countries that are only formal and cannot be effectively governed at all?

Freedom means being free from the power of others, not having to live in fear all the time. However, throughout the thousands of years of human history, freedom is very rare. Most of the time, the strong do whatever they want, and the weak are left to be slaughtered. The state apparatus that is supposed to maintain order either does not exist or becomes an accomplice of oppression. Why is this happening?

Prof. Esmerlo and Robinson review ancient and modern China and foreign countries, leading readers to visit one civilization after another. From the city-state of Athens, Arabia and the Middle East, Africa, Hawaii and Oceania, the former Soviet Union, Europe, China and the United States. The two authors advocated that a strong state machine and a stronger society should check and balance each other. Only by stepping into the "narrow corridor" can freedom be guaranteed.

This book combines two of the best political and economists to build a clear, concrete model of political economy based on years of original research. Ideal for responding to major issues of current global concern:

◆ How to restrain the state apparatus and enter the narrow corridor leading to freedom? Is this a Western country's patent?

◆ Freedom with Chinese characteristics, is it freedom? After an autocratic state has created economic prosperity, can it go back to safeguarding civil liberties? Will the rise of digital totalitarian states end the liberal order?

◆ Under what circumstances is the state unable to continue to guarantee liberty? Is the state apparatus out of control, or is society paralyzing the state? Could America be the next country to lose its freedom? What about Taiwan?

One-of-a-kind historical analysis, the most wonderful theory of the origin of democracy. ——Zhu Jingyi (Academician of Academia Sinica, Distinguished Researcher)

Features of this book

Democracy is ebbing, freedom is collapsing, and in times of turmoil,

What is the key to taming the state apparatus and safeguarding civil liberties?

The author of "Why Nations Fail" spans thousands of years of politics, economics and history.

Answer the biggest political conundrum in human history.

Recommended by all walks of life

Special order recommendation:

Zhu Jingyi Academician and Distinguished Researcher of Academia Sinica

Special article guide:

Lin Mingren Distinguished Professor, Department of Economics, National Taiwan University

Chen Jiaming Associate Researcher, Human and Social Center, Academia Sinica

Recommended listing:

Wang Hongen, Co-Editor of Market Politics, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Wu Ruiren Associate Researcher, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica

Shen Rongqin Associate Professor at York University, Canada

Fan Yun Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, National Taiwan University

Ye Hao, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, National Chengchi University

Dr. Yicheng Cai, founder of "Watch International News with You"

Yan Jiyufeng Media Executive Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Dai Xingsheng, Professor, School of Environment, Donghua University

Yan Zeya Publisher and Writer

Highly recommended

★★★★ Four Nobel Laureates in Economics, Judd Dimon, author of "Guns, Germs and Steel", and unanimously recommended by media from all over the world

★★★★First place in the 2019 Economics Must-Read List by Financial Times! Kirkus Review Books of the Year 2019

How can a powerful state apparatus coexist with the freedom of citizens? This is the biggest problem in the history of human politics. Because the development trend of human society in the past 10,000 years has been from a small tribe to a centralized state powerful enough to keep the society of millions of people running. This great book provides the answer to this fundamental conundrum. You will find it thought provoking and enjoyable to read. --Judd Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

How should we view the challenges facing democracies today? This wonderful and timely book provides a simple yet powerful theoretical framework for evaluating a variety of different approaches to state governance. The analysis in this book reminds us of the need to remain vigilant in maintaining the proper balance between state and society—that is, in the “narrow corridors of freedom”—to avoid slipping into anarchy or dictatorship. --Bengt Holmstrom, 2016 Nobel Laureate in Economics

Freedom is not easy to come by. There are many who still suffer from government inefficiency and are trapped in a cage of social norms and traditions. Others were subdued by tyrannical djinn. In this original and delightful masterpiece, two authors take us through time and through civilization. It's an extraordinary achievement that only they can achieve, destined to make Why Nation Fail once again. --Jean Tirole, 2014 Nobel Laureate in Economics

The Narrow Corridors of Liberty takes us on a fascinating journey through continents and human history to find the key elements of freedom. At this moment in time, there is no more important discovery, no more important book. --George Akerlof, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Economics

Another excellent and insightful book, where two authors point out the importance and difficulty of successfully maintaining a democracy. The book is full of examples and analyses, and it is a pleasure to read. --Peter Diamond, 2010 Nobel Laureate in Economics

An authoritative co-author of two of the world's finest social scientists, with countless insights and lessons to learn, this is a true masterpiece. Through a wealth of historical material, this book examines the delicate balance between the state and society, and arrives at a chilling conclusion that every thinking person should realize: freedom is rare and fragile, and struggles to survive tyranny and anarchy. space between states. --Joel Mokyr, professor of economics at Northwestern University and author of The Lever of Wealth

When "Why Nations Fail" was published, many still considered the United States to be the prime example of an inclusive system—a country that guaranteed property rights and the rule of law, and achieved democracy and abundance. Today, the distribution of income in the United States is as distorted as any chaebol society, and the representative political system appears vulnerable to the attack of a demagogue. The Narrow Corridors of Liberty coined the term "Red Queen Effect" to refer to the never-ending struggle to maintain an open political system. Civil society must keep pace with authoritarian leaders as quickly as possible and curb their authoritarian tendencies. - Danny. Dani Rodrik, Professor of Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and author of The Contradictions of Globalization

The two authors cited the success or failure of different civilizations and analyzed the key balance between state and society, which was very enjoyable. The Narrow Corridors of Liberty is destined to be a landmark book, charting the future of liberty for any serious policymaker, scholar, or citizen. ——Eric. Erik Brynjolfsson, professor at MIT, author of The Second Machine Age

It is not freedom without state oppression, that is the most crucial and correct insight of this book. This new book is more original and exciting than its predecessor, focusing not only on institutions, but also how the state actually works. ─ ─ Martin. Martin Wolf, chief economic commentator at The Financial Times

The authors ask the most fundamental question: how to explain the rise and fall of democracy and autocracy? They provide a provocative framework for analyzing our current crisis in democracy and understanding what dangers the aspirations for democracy and freedom face today. --The Washington Post

The provocative arguments of this book are intuitively valid, and it is a work of immense benefit. - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

This book analyzes that freedom is the result of a constant balance between the state and society. If the UK (and even the US) is losing this balance, will the freedoms we enjoy be going backwards? This is an important and disturbing book, a wake-up call to read in these turbulent times. --The Spectator

An astonishingly ambitious work to explain why freedom doesn't always exist in every corner of the world. ──Newsweek

A must read. ──Library Journal, starred review

The society needs the state, and the state needs the society. Applying the rich details of global history into a simple analytical framework, the two authors present a powerful counterargument to the two opposing currents of totalitarianism and anarchy. ─ ─ Paul. Sir Paul Collier, recognized as one of the world's leading thinkers by the Journal of Foreign Affairs, and former Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank

An excellent and insightful book for the current state of affairs. Nations all over the world are struggling with tensions between government and society, with populism on both the left and the right offering frivolous and dangerous answers. By contrast, the authors of this book demonstrate that the narrow corridors of freedom can only be entered through a combination of a competent state apparatus and a strong civil society – both indispensable. This is the right path to prosperity, but as this book states, "it's not going to be easy." ─ ─ Michael. Sir Michael Barber, British educator, author of How to Govern Government

The Narrow Corridor of Liberty is based on two decades of comparative research. While both authors are economists, the book isn't riddled with economic jargon or massive numbers, and it's just as easy to read as its predecessor, Why Nations Fail. They prefer institutional analysis, comparing the similarities and differences between wealthy democracies and most despairing states rife with poverty. They are fortunate enough to grow up in the former, with a confident society and an efficient state apparatus. Freedom is like the hydra in Greek mythology, and there is no room for defeat when it comes to fighting a one-headed, tyrannical djinn. ─ ─ Paul. Paul Cartledge, Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, Editor-in-Chief of Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece

Ambitious and thought-provoking, this book analyzes many of today's key themes and artfully connects them with historical evidence from many different parts of the world. --- Goldman Sachs Group Chief Economist Jim. Jim O'Neill, the inventor of the term "BRIC"

About the Author

Daron Acemoglu

Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and formerly taught at the London School of Economics. In 2005, he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, which is specially designed for economists under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions to economic thought and knowledge. The hottest Nobel Prize candidate in the future. In 2016, he won the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award again, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in economics, finance and management. Esmeru is one of the top ten economists with the most citations in the global economics literature.

James A. Robinson

Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, political scientist and economist. He is a world-renowned expert on Africa and Latin America, currently leading research projects in Bolivia, Congo, the Republic of Lion Rock, Haiti and Colombia, and lectures every summer at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.

Translator Profile

Liu Daojie

Graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature of National Taiwan University. He was the director of the International News Center of a domestic financial and economic newspaper. Now he is a full-time translator. He has won the China Times, Lianhe Daily's Top 10 Best Book Awards and other awards.

Table of contents

Recommended Preface Zhu Jingyi / Academician of Academia Sinica, Distinguished Researcher

Introduce one Lin Mingren / Distinguished Professor, Department of Economics, National Taiwan University

Introduction 2 Chen Jiaming/Associate Researcher of the Center for Human and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica

Preamble

What is freedom? Why did the Syrians who rebelled against the government lose their fight? How can the ancient "Epic of Gilgamesh" and the story of the modern feminist movement give us a better understanding of the origins of freedom?

Chapter 1 How does history end?

What kind of different state machines do people living in Nigeria and Congo, Nazi Germany and Communist China face? How can humans restrain the state apparatus and avoid falling into the trap of social norms and authoritarian dictatorships?

Chapter 2 The Red Queen

How has the relationship between state and society evolved in history? How did the ancient Athenian city-state successfully create a dynamic balance between the state and society and step into the narrow corridor of freedom?

Chapter 3 Will to Power

Why does the state apparatus appear? How does the state apparatus change society? Revelation of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, Zulu Warrior, Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Georgia.

Chapter 4 Economics Beyond the Corridor

State machinery makes people rich? How does the presence or absence of the state apparatus affect economic incentives? Continuing the four examples in the previous chapter, we explore the characteristics of economic growth in authoritarian countries.

Chapter 5 The Parable of Good Governance

How did the Italian city-state and the ancient civilization of Mexico constrain the state apparatus and create economic incentives different from those of autocratic countries through commercial stocks, property rights protection and specialized trade?

Chapter 6 European Scissors

Europe for what? How did the societies of Northwest Europe, after Athens, Italy and Mexico fall, regain the stability of the state apparatus, return to the narrow corridor of freedom, and create prosperity unseen in modern history?

Chapter 7 Ordered by Heaven

From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to modern China, review the history of the "Central State", analyze the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucratic imperial examinations and chambers of commerce, and explain the state apparatus with Chinese characteristics and freedom with Chinese characteristics.

Chapter 8 The Destruction of the Red Queen

In India, which has a democratic tradition, why is the caste system that erases freedom and creates poverty still deeply rooted? Why has the Indian state apparatus failed for so long?

Chapter 9 The Devil Hides in the Details

Explaining divergence: war, the collapse of the Soviet Union and globalization, how do structural factors interact with society to create different states? Compare Prussia, Switzerland and Montenegro; Poland, Russia and Tajikistan, and Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Chapter 10 What went wrong with Ferguson?

The past, present, and future of the American state apparatus: Why does the United States, known for its constitutional spirit and yearning for freedom, have a flawed system of inequality, discrimination against blacks, and rampant crime?

Chapter Eleven Paper Tiger Nation Djinn

Why do many post-colonial countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia clearly have the rudiments of modern states, but the capabilities of the state apparatus are eroded by tyranny and corruption, unable to provide public services and guarantee freedom?

Chapter 12 The Children of the Wahhabi

How do the countries of the Islamic world in the Middle East maintain the rut of social norms through authoritarian state apparatuses, and sow the factors of loss of freedom, violence and instability?

Chapter 13 The Red Queen is out of control

Why did the Weimar Republic in Germany and Chile in the 1960s become polarized, leading to the rise of strongmen and the Nazis, and finally falling out of the narrow corridors and losing the freedoms they originally enjoyed? What implications does this have for contemporary populist politics?

Chapter Fourteen Stepping into the Narrow Corridor

What conditions can help countries transition more smoothly to the narrow corridor of freedom? Cases from countries such as South Africa, Japan, and Turkey show that different types of countries face very different challenges when transitioning.

Chapter 15 Peaceful Coexistence with the National Djinn

What crises and challenges does the globalization and automation of today's world impose on the political and economic system? What is there to learn from the Swedish experience, which is very different from the United States, to create a more balanced country and society that can guarantee freedom?

Thanks

source

Bibliography

Recommended order

Zhu Jingyi (Academician of Academia Sinica, Distinguished Researcher)

Since Judd. After Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel, there have been many attempts to write a similar analysis of "big history". At that time, Judd. Dimon's observation of the geographical environment for hundreds of millions of years, coupled with his knowledge of evolutionary biology, infers predictable patterns of species migration, germ spread, captive animal husbandry, and immigration distribution. persuasive. Because of his wide-ranging and long-term analysis, he called it "big history."

In addition, the British historian Ian. Ian Morris wrote "Why the West Rules - For Now" in 2001, which is another big history. Morris compares the development of Eastern and Western cultures and social systems over thousands of years, and deduces why the discovery of the New World by sea and the Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe, and why the West has dominated the world order in the last five hundred years; this is also a kind of "analysis". The Great History of the Centuries-Old Problems". Harvard Linguistics professor Stephen. Steven Pinker's most recent book, Enlightenment Now, chronicles human achievements since the Medieval Enlightenment, from democracy and the rule of law to antibiotics and quantum mechanics, seems to cover centuries The human civilization of the box; this is also a big history of the evolution of civilization.

The Narrow Corridor is another big history. This book wants to explain how "democratic freedom" came about? What is the soil environment that breeds democracy and freedom? Why does democracy and freedom take root in some countries but not in others? This kind of cross-cultural political system development history spans thousands of years vertically and horizontally spans North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, China, Northern Europe, the Middle East and other places. Of course, it is also an uncompromising historical analysis.

However, big historical analysis is not easy after all. And because it’s not easy, in the past few decades, only one widely acclaimed work, Guns, Germs, and Steel, has won the Pulitzer Prize; several other books, even with some positive reviews, are not considered masterpieces. , at best a tour de force. I myself have written book reviews of "Why the West" and "Enlightenment Now", and I have some reservations while admiring them.

The so-called big history, of course, is to extend widely on the time axis or the geographical axis or the cross-domain theoretical axis. Judd. Dimon's book is not so much a big history as it is "big geography" and "big bioevolution"; he clearly compares the characteristics of the surface, animal migration, domesticated livestock, parasites, infectious diseases, etc. with geographical features. Chu, carefully concatenated. Then he can make astonishing arguments and write absolutely convincing works. However, biological evolution or geographic change is a cold fact, with few secrets of cause and effect, no guesswork, and no disagreement. Therefore, the big geography is easy to write, and the big biological evolution theory has long been finalized by Darwin, but it is really not easy to form a big system theory about the evolution of democracy, the great enlightenment theory about the evolution of civilization, and the big environmental determinism about modern history. A set of discourses that convince everyone.

Darren. Daron Acemoglu and James. James A. Robinson (James A. Robinson) is a well-known economist and political scientist, and his works are of excellent quality. Co-authoring a grand historical theory on "democracy and freedom" by them is probably the best candidate that can be found on the surface. If they can't handle this issue, I doubt anyone else in the academic world today. In addition, democracy and freedom involve politics, and politics involves the ugliest and most intriguing politicians. It is a treacherous, ever-changing and delicate subject. It almost requires a considerable cultural and social background to enter the situation. Robinson, one of the authors, has studied Latin America and Africa for many years, and is already extremely knowledgeable and extensive. Esmerol is an authority on economic growth theory, and he has dabbled in the politics and economics of various countries in the past few decades. Such a golden combination, what is their argument?

Ethemeru and Robinson argue that democracy is nurtured in a "narrow corridor." Since it is a "narrow corridor", it means that it is not easy to enter the corridor, and there is a great probability of shock overflow after entering. Therefore, democracy and freedom are somewhat "path-dependent" by chance and unpredictability, and even unstable. Essomeru and Robinson pointed out that the corridor is narrow because on one side there are political elites who are eager to expand their power based on selfish desires, and on the other side are the social forces that suppress the political giants, but this force starts again. It is also sparse and slow, and it may not be an opponent of political giants. What's more serious is that even if social forces are mobilized and the elites are suppressed, they must be suppressed just right. To improve people's living standards, we need both the services of an effective government and social mechanisms that curb their political derailment. There is too much between the two, so the corridor is extremely narrow.

Does the aforementioned "theory" make sense? I think it makes sense. But to become a big historical discourse, this set of theories must be tested in the real world. Europe, Asia, Africa, America; China, India, the Philippines, the United States; ancient, modern, modern... How difficult is such an inspection project! As a person like me who is familiar with Chinese history and Taiwan history, if I were to comb through the political forces and social constraints of the giants in these places, I would feel overwhelmed. I have also been an ambassador abroad for three years, and I have discussed and chatted with diplomats from various countries hundreds of times, and I have some understanding of the world. But even so, most of the time I can only be dumbfounded when discussing the great history of political systems, both ancient and modern, at home and abroad. The authors are far more knowledgeable than I am, but unless their IQ is the square of my IQ, such research is extremely difficult.

At least for the analysis of China's political system, I think there is room for additions to the analysis of Essomeru and Robinson. The two authors believe that Chinese history has oscillated between Legalism and Confucianism for thousands of years, which I think is too simplistic. Confucianism, who said that it is not a legalism that "has bound the framework of ritual and righteousness to assist the monarch to control his subjects"? Confucianism and Legalism, is there such a clear distinction? Legalism may be like the djinn mentioned by Hobbes, but if Confucianism is the social force that restrains djinn, I think it needs to be supplemented. Many people say that the political elite is actually the interaction between Confucianism and the law, and there is no question of who restricts the other.

In addition, the book also mentions the Chinese Communist Party and the Soviet Union, and analyzes why these two places cannot produce a democratic and free system. My own thoughts are: the Communist Party and Communism are the "alien" monsters of the last century. It is a variant of the capitalist monster that bounced back after the Industrial Revolution. It has both the coercion of centralized property and the pollution of fascism during the breeding period of the variant, thus forming a unique centralized control system in the name of collectivism in human history. Today, the governments in the world that control the mind the most, block the Internet the most, abuse the violence the most, and brainwash the people the most are China and North Korea. If I insist on analyzing China and North Korea with the framework of the "narrow corridor", it is like analyzing "why rabies bites people", I always feel that it is a little harder.

As mentioned above, I basically agree with the "narrow corridor theory" of the two authors, and also believe that their theory is the most wonderful theory of "the origin of democracy" in the market. But big history is not easy to study, and institutional big history involves complex cultural and social backgrounds. When we read this book, we should not only appreciate its large frame, but also carefully observe its comparison with the actual phenomenon; we should not only learn but also think. Only in this way can you realize the truth of "learning without thinking is worthless, and thinking without learning is perilous". Whether reading and seeking knowledge can make one grow, I am afraid it is also a process of struggling in a "narrow corridor".

book summary

Paragraph 1: The future of human freedom?

This book explores freedom, how and why human societies succeeded and failed in their struggle for freedom, and examines the consequent consequences, especially the impact on prosperity. We follow the British philosopher John. Freedom as defined by John Locke, who advocates:

If people can be very comfortable and free to arrange their own actions, dispose of their own property and personnel. ． ． ． . . There is no need to ask for approval or sigh, that is to have freedom.

Such freedom is a fundamental desire of all human beings, Locke emphasized:

No one should harm the life, health, liberty or property of others.

But apparently freedom was rare in history, and it is the same today. Every year in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Central America, millions of people are born and die, fleeing their homes, not in pursuit of higher incomes, or a better life, but in ways to protect themselves and their families from violence and fear.

Philosophers have proposed many definitions of liberty, but Locke acknowledged that the most basic level of liberty must be freedom from violence, intimidation, and other derogatory actions, people must be free to choose their own lives, free from Live the life of your choice under the threat of reasonable punishment or severe social sanctions.

***

In 1989, Francis. Fukuyama predicted "the end of history", with all countries moving toward an American-style political and economic system, resulting in what he called "economic and political liberalism in one." Just five years later, Rob. In his treatise Coming Anarchy, Robert Kaplan paints a very different picture of the future.

In 2018, Yuval. In his article "Why Technology Favors Tyranny", Yuval Noah Harari predicted the future, arguing that advances in artificial intelligence herald the rise of "digital dictatorships", with governments possessing surveillance and control capabilities , and even dominate our interactions, communications and thinking.

So history could still end, just in a very different way than Fukuyama imagined. But how will it end? Will democracy prevail, as Fukuyama foresees, or will anarchy or digital dictatorships prevail? The increased control of the Chinese state apparatus over the internet, the media, and people's lives may signal that we are heading in the direction of a digital dictatorship; at the same time, recent history in the Middle East and Africa reminds us that the prospect of anarchy is not far off.

However, we need a systematic way to think about it all.

In this book, I will argue that if freedom is to flourish, both the state and the society must be strong. Strong states control violence, enforce laws, and provide public services vital to people's lives in order to empower them to make the choices they want to pursue. Strong states need strong, fluid societies to control and restrain.

Between fear and repression created by authoritarian states, as well as rampant violence and lawlessness, a narrow passage to freedom has emerged. It is in this corridor that society and the state check and balance each other. This check and balance is not achieved by a single revolutionary moment, but by a continuous struggle between the two, day in and day out. This struggle will pay dividends, as the state and society in this corridor not only compete with each other, but also cooperate with each other, and this cooperation will improve the state's ability to supply the society needs, and also strengthen the social mobilization force that monitors this ability.

Why a corridor and not a gate? Because achieving freedom is a process: you have to walk a long way down the corridor before you can subdue violence, make and enforce laws, and the state apparatus can begin to serve its citizens. This is a process that states and their elites must learn to live in peace with the shackles that society imposes on them, and that different sectors of society must learn to cooperate with each other and ignore their differences.

This corridor is narrow because it is no easy task, how do you suppress a state machine with a large bureaucracy, a strong military, and a state machine that can freely determine the content of the law? How can you ensure that the state apparatus will remain subdued under control when the people demand more responsibilities from the state in a complex world? How do you keep societies working together rather than opposing themselves when differences and divisions tear them apart? How do you prevent this from becoming zero-sum competition? None of this is easy at all, no wonder the corridor seems rather narrow, and no wonder that society has far-reaching consequences whether society steps in or leaves it.

All of these things are beyond your control. Why should the leadership bestow rights and freedoms on the people when the state and its elites are too powerful and the society is docile and submissive? If they do, do you believe they will keep their word?

We can see the origin of freedom in the history of women's liberation from the time of Gilgamesh to today. How did society progress from a situation where "every girl's hymen...belongs to him" as the epic says, to women's rights? (Oh, anyway, some places do have women's rights.) Is it possible that women's rights can be handed out by men? In the United Arab Emirates, for example, in 2015, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice-president and prime minister of the Grand Duchy and ruler of Dubai, established the Gender Balance Committee, which is named every year as "the most pro-gender balance government entity." , "Federal Authority Most Pro-Gender Balance" and "Best Gender Balance Action Plan" awarded gender balance awards. In 2018, the awards presented by Muhammad have one thing in common: they are all given to men! The problem with this solution in the Grand Duchy is that it was instigated by Muhammad and imposed on society without its participation.

In contrast, the history of the feminist movement in the United Kingdom is relatively successful. Feminism in the United Kingdom is not given by others, but won. At that time, women promoted the "women's suffrage" social movement. The advocacy group was spun out from the British Women's Social and Political Union, which was established in 1903 and was only for women. The purpose of its establishment was to fight for women's suffrage. Instead of waiting for men to award them the "Best Gender Balance Action Plan" award, they mobilized for direct action and civil disobedience to blow up Lloyd Johnson, then Chancellor of the Exchequer and then Prime Minister. George (David Lloyd George's summer house) also chained himself to the railing outside the British Parliament. They refused to pay taxes, and after being sentenced to prison, they went on a hunger strike and were force-fed by the prison authorities.

Emily. Emily Davison was an important member of the suffragette movement. On June 4, 1913, she broke into the track at the famous Yessen Racecourse and ran in front of Anmer, the racehorse owned by King George V of England. According to several reports, holding a purple, white, and green suffrage flag, she was knocked over by An Mo, as shown in the photo attached to the book, and pinned down by the fallen horse. Four days later, she succumbed to her injuries; five years later, women could vote in UK MP elections. British women do not get their rights through the generosity of their (male) leaders, but as a result of their power to organize and fight for power.

The story of the women's liberation movement is not unique. Freedom is almost always determined by the mobilizing power of society and the ability of society and the state and its elites to strike a balance of power. ,

Paragraph 2: Recognizing the Red Queen Effect on Freedom

Freedom and the ultimate capacity of the state depend not only on trust and cooperation, but also on the balance of power between the state and society. If the state and the elite become too powerful, it will end up being a state of "Despotic Djinn"; if the state and the elite are left behind, the end result will be a state in which "djinn don't exist". Therefore, we need the state and the society to go hand in hand, and neither gain the advantage of each other. It's like Lewis. The Red Queen effect described by Lewis Carroll in Alice Through the Looking Glass. In this novel, after Alice meets the Queen of Hearts, the two run a race together. "Alice doesn't remember much about how they started the race in hindsight," but notes that even though they all seemed to be running as fast as they could, "the trees and other things around them didn't seem to have changed position at all; How fast they run, they never seem to outrun anything." Finally, the Red Queen called a timeout.

Alice looked around in amazement and said, "Why do I really feel like we've been under this tree all the time! Everything is exactly the same!"

"Of course it is," said the Red Queen. "What would you say?"

"Oh, in our country," panted Alice, "if you run fast and long like we did, you usually see something else."

"Like a slow country!" said the queen. "Oh, here, you run as fast as you can to stay where you are."

The "Red Queen Effect" means that in order to maintain your original status, you have to keep running forward; just like the country and society run fast, the purpose is to balance the two. In Carroll's novel, all the running is in vain, but not in the struggle of the social and state djinn. If society relaxes and doesn't run fast enough to keep pace with the country's growth, the conditioned state can quickly become an autocratic state. We need societal competition in order to keep the national djinn in check. The stronger and more capable the state, the stronger and more alert society must become. We also need the national djinn to keep running, to grow their capabilities while maintaining their autonomy in the face of difficult new challenges, because this is not only about resolving disputes and law enforcement impartially, but also about breaking the cage of norms. It all sounds pretty chaotic (all this running!), and we find that it is often the case: chaotic as it is, we must rely on the Red Queen effect to advance human progress and freedom. However, the Red Queen herself will create a lot of ups and downs in the balance of power in society and the state, when one party suddenly advances and suddenly falls behind.

These broader problems are illustrated by the way Solon sought to stimulate the Red Queen effect. His reforms not only laid the foundation for the institutionalization of popular political participation, but also assisted in the relaxation of direct restrictions on liberty, while preventing them in the narrow corridors of liberty. Normative cage for necessary political participation.

The Athenian cage was not as suffocating as many other social cages—such as the Tiv social cage discussed in this chapter—but still heavy enough to block the Red Queen's way. By breaking this part of the cage, Solon initiated a fundamental change in society and established a distinctive political formation capable of supporting the development of constrained emerging national djinn.

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As we will find later in this book, all races with the Red Queen are fraught with danger; but when this effect works, it creates the conditions for the kind of freedom that Athenians and Americans enjoyed. But then again, why are many societies still in a situation where djinn do not exist in countries? Why don't they try to create a central authority and then constrain it? Why not let the red queen effect unleash?

Sociologists often associate the inability to establish central authority with the absence of several important conditions worthy of a state apparatus, such as relatively high population density, established agriculture or trade, and so on. Others believe that some societies lack the necessary state-building knowledge. According to this view, the establishment of state institutions is primarily a matter of "engineering", requiring the introduction of the right knowledge skills and institutional blueprints. While all of these factors play a role in some cases, another factor is often more important: the willingness to avoid the monstrous appearance of the state titans. If you fear the state djinn, you will prevent others from amassing power and creating the social and political classes needed to advance the state apparatus.

The third paragraph: Chinese-style state apparatus and freedom

A common argument is that to build a nation's capabilities, complete control of security and a strong armed force is necessary. It is on this belief that many people argue that China may be a model for other developing countries (perhaps even developed countries), because China's state machine is so capable, partly because no one challenges the Communist Party's dominance. However, when you look more deeply, you will find that although China's national giants are autocratic, their capabilities are not as good as those of the United States or Scandinavian countries. The reason is that China does not have a strong society that can coerce and cooperate with the state. Or compete with the power of the state. Without this balance of power between state and society, the Red Queen effect would not work, and the result would be a less capable state djinn.

To see the growth of China's national capabilities, you don't have to look too deeply, just look at the education system. Education is a top priority in many countries' major governance, not only because an educated workforce will make the country more successful, but also because education is an effective way to instill the right beliefs in citizens. So you would expect a country with strong capabilities to be able to provide affordable, high-quality, merit-based education and mobilize public servants to pursue this goal; however, the reality is quite different. In China's education system, everything is for sale, including front-row seats near the blackboard and the position of the monitor.

When Zhao Hua went to register his daughter at an elementary school in Beijing, he met several officials from the district education committee. They had a list of how much each family had to pay. These officials were not often present at the school, but Zhao Hua had to deposit $4,800 in the bank before his daughter could register. Primary and secondary education is free, so these "fees" are illegal. Since 2005, the government has ordered the ban five times (since it is to be banned five times, the meaning of which is obvious). At another elite middle school in Beijing, for every $4,800 that parents donate, students get an extra point in their grades. If you want to get your child into a top school, such as the high school affiliated to the famous Renmin University in Beijing, the red envelope can be as high as $130,000. Teachers also expect gifts—the more the better. Chinese news media reports that teachers now expect to receive designer watches, expensive premium teas, gift certificates, and even holiday vacations; more active teachers welcome debit cards attached to bank accounts that can be topped up year-round . "If you don't give gifts like other parents, you're afraid that teachers will pay less attention to your children," said a female entrepreneur in Beijing in an exclusive interview with The New York Times.

How can civil servants be so greedy and bend the law? Isn't China the world's first bureaucratic country that employs meritocracy? The answer is both yes and no. As we will find in Chapter 7, China has a long history of complex and capable bureaucracies, but one that is as old as corruption and cronyism and the buying of officials; a history that continues to this day. In 2015, a survey of 3,671 Communist Party officials found that as many as two-thirds believed that the most important criterion for obtaining government positions was "political loyalty" rather than "political loyalty". talent. Once you gather cronies, you can start influencing business people and citizens, and you can create obedient subordinates by selling officials. Political scientist Minxin Pei analyzed 50 corruption convictions for Communist Party officials between 2001 and 2013 and found that each official sold an average of 41 positions. The bottom-level officials included Zhang Guiyi and Xu Shexin, leaders of Wuhe County, Anhui Province. Zhang Guiyi sold 11 official positions at an average price of 12,000 yuan, or only 1,500 US dollars in US dollars. Xu She newly sold fifty-eight jobs. However, higher up the food chain, such as county-level units, the income from selling officials is much higher, with some officials managing to collect $60,000 per official position when they sell an official position. In Bei Min's new study, corrupt officials made an average of $170,000 by selling them.

Zhang Guiyi and Xu Shexin are just minor roles. Railway Minister Liu Zhijun was arrested in 2011 on charges of owning 350 apartments and more than $100 million in cash. The main reason is that China's high-speed rail system offers unparalleled opportunities for corruption, but so does most other aspects of China's economic expansion. Although Liu Zhijun has collapsed, most of the others are safe and sound. In 2012, among the 1,000 richest people in China, 160 were delegates to the National People's Congress of the Communist Party of China, with a net worth of $221 billion, roughly the size of the U.S. The wealth of the 660 top officials in the three branches of government is 20 times the wealth, but the per capita income of the United States is about seven times that of China. None of this should come as a complete surprise. Controlling corruption, whether in the bureaucracy or in the education system, requires the cooperation of society. The state apparatus needs to trust the people to report truthfully, and the people's trust in state institutions must reach a level where they are willing to risk their lives to report; under the stern gaze of the tyrannical state giant, this situation will not occur.