One interesting thing I overheard last week during our trip to Srirangaputna (the wooden palace for Hyder Ali) was the comment by the Muslim family. Basically, they said that they were glad that they lived in India rather than Pakistan. India has mostly been a place where everyone coexists, whereas Pakistan (mostly Muslim) is constantly embroiled in conflict.
Friedman’s take on this situation is that people in India have an opportunity, whereas the closed society of Pakistan is devoid of those opportunities. Therefore, hatred builds up in the closed society, while entrepreneurial spirit and creativity are unleashed in the opportunistic one.
Most of the conflicts around the world, both present and near past, have involved Muslims in some way or form. Throughout the years, Islam has constantly been at war somewhere in the world. Some have even gone as far as to proclaim Islam as the religion of war (many of Mohammed’s initial converts were forced to become Muslims at the edge of the sword).
Friedman’s take on this situation is interesting because this is the first theory I have read which says the problem lies in economics rather than religion. Personally, I will have to explore this further as my gut instinct tells me that the economics are in place BECAUSE of the religion rather than them being completely separate. However, I do not know enough of these theories to complete an adequate analysis and synthesize an intelligent conclusion.
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