tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24528000.post115887168678331747..comments2023-10-28T12:01:47.929+00:00Comments on Edward Lucas: Writing in praise of (very) small countriesEdward Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11369936559712607693noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24528000.post-1159347977993027112006-09-27T09:06:00.000+00:002006-09-27T09:06:00.000+00:00Good post, Mr. Lucas -- as usual! There are certai...Good post, Mr. Lucas -- as usual! There are certainly both advantages and disadvantages to being small -- among the latter, it's not just the countless "pointless international organizations" but government itself that costs a lot, <I>per capita</I> (even when dealing with the not-so-pointless organizations -- the percentage of the population employed in wading through EU paperwork is certainly high here in the Baltic States, for instance). On the other hand, I suppose that the armies of functionaries, multiplying like they did in the interbellum, form a sort of backbone for the nation-state...<BR/><BR/>One of the major advantages I would mention relates to the openness you urge. People from smaller countries don't usually expect much understanding from those who hail from larger ones. Estonians learn Finnish, Latvians Russian, etc. -- whilst it's expected that citizens learn our languages, nobody expects it of visitors. Many here also tend to take an interest in smaller communities -- the Estonians in the Fenno-Ugric peoples in Russia, for example. Latvia offers development aid to Moldova and Georgia. In literature, there are Latvian translators of Faroese and Icelandic. Since the cost of being small is high in so many areas (e.g., Russian books are cheaper!), people have to be more open to other cultures than those cultures are to us. The economist Nicholas Balabkins noted that growing up pentalingual in Daugavpils stood him in good stead. Smallness isn't the only factor in multilingualism, of course -- but Luxembourg is also a leader in that realm. We can't afford to be insular.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/>/PPēteris Cedriņšhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427626605836088551noreply@blogger.com