And a major part of the success of Europeans is the ability of Jews and Christians to do business on trust with people who are not kin. In almost all if not all other cultures there is no trust outside of family and clan. A Jew or Christian has been able to make a deal with another Jew or Christian and both sides of the deal have a reasonable expectation that the other will do what he has promised to do. In Japan and Korea and Vietnam it is the Christian portion of the population that has become the business class. In Japan that Christian population was entirely sub rosa for centuries but it existed in some numbers in Nagasaki and other places and formed the business class there.
Wow, good points. Thanks. I really appreciate that insight! sff