Yoshie, perhaps I overstepped the bounds of my understanding. I jumped into this discussion merely to mention an advantage that Japan had vis a vis the USSR. Homogeneity is, of course, a tricky subject -- as you Kelly and Angela -- have pointed out. Prejudice can be justified in terms of external characteristics, such as smelling bad, and then can turn into discrimination [as Henry mentioned]. Discrimination in terms of class, race or gender is bad. A society can probably run "well" (i.e., w/o too much inconvenience) when the object of discrimination do not join together as a force as was probably the case of gays until the last few decades. Ethinic or racial groups have a greater capcity to make themselves felt as a group and thus can more easily embroil society in disruptions. Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: > Michael Perelman wrote: > >It is just that ethnicities make conflict more likely -- > > What is 'ethnicity'? What's the difference between it and 'race'? Between > it and 'nationality'? > > Yoshie -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
