[Ragnar Danneskjöld]

Is it a fair statement to say...Spanish-based cultures just do not succeed? I’m trying to think of some, but they don’t come to mind. Have often wondered why that is.

[rfp1234]

Chile was OK for a while.

[tflabo]

Avarice, greed, corruption and ignorance/rejection of God/Biblical principles will ruin any society. America has been ruined too, just not totally yet.

[TheDandyMan]

There was a time when it was 50/50 whether Argentina would adopt Spanish or French as the national language, and their cultural elites were actively working to create a pan-European society (Europe transplanted to S America, as one put it) rather than an Indo-Spanish admixture like the countries around them. Ethnically, most Argentinians are of what would be considered white European descent — IIRC something like 60-65% of the population, while less than 30% are Mestizo and barely 5% native Indian. Their constitution still explicitly favors immigrants from Europe, despite pushes to remove such language every time they change the constitution.

Point being, Argentina is rather different on paper when compared to her neighbors in terms of cultural basis, but equally disfunctional. It it perplexing.

[Campion]

Chile and Costa Rica aren’t bad. Not coincidentally, both of them are pretty friendly to free-market economics, at least compared to their neighbors.

[hinckley buzzard]

Hispanic culture does not have its roots in the law as the Anglo culture. There is no Spanish Magna Carta or common law, or Constitution that is held in respect. Property ownership is not held as a matter of right as it is in the Anglo based culture. This means that the future is always contingent on the whims of political winds. Hard to get banks to take risks and make investments for the future in such an environment.

[nwrep]

Only cultures that have embraced some or all of the tenets of the Age of Enlightenment succeed. This includes free markets, human liberty and natural law.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Is it a fair statement to say...Spanish-based cultures just do not succeed?

Chile is doing fine. Closing in on first world status. Which, considering that back in the 1970's people were going hungry, is a major jump. They are even starting to grumble about immigrants who are trying to move in. First world problems. :)

Uruguay is not bad.

It is fair to say that the Spanish did not spend a lot of energy setting their colonies up for success.

Better then the Dutch, french and Belgians though. Certainly better then the Japanese and Chinese.

Let's not even talk about the mohammedans.

[dsc]

“Is it a fair statement to say...Spanish-based cultures just do not succeed? I’m trying to think of some, but they don’t come to mind. Have often wondered why that is.”

James Michener wrote that every former Spanish colony is corrupt, because the Spanish were corrupt.