Why Are Muslims Powerless?
Haifa Diary first has Dr Farrukh Saleem asking why Jews are so powerful. His answer: Education. Why, then, he asks, are Muslims powerless? A few examples:
LITERACY
As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent.Some 98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the 'literate s' in the Muslim world did the same.
SCIENCE
Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In theentire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while theChristian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.NEWSPAPERS
Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan , there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK , the number of book titles per millionstands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge....Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't producing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't diffusing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't applying knowledge. And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.
Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis). Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion. (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining).
The day somebody discovers an alternative energy source to oil, the Muslim countries will be back on their way to centers of, well, goatherding.
These days, instead of science education, Muslims have...Tom & Jerry as a Jewish conspiracy!
I particularly loved the part about "the Jewish Walt Disney company."
Muslims/Knowledge via thereligionofpeace.com
So here's the thing... and the jihadis already know this... you can destroy millions of dollars worth of equipment, and the highly trained and educated operators of it, with an astoundingly small amount of explosive.
They don't need the edumacation, just the belief that they are right. The education is an empediment to the sharing of anything with anyone. It is far easier to believe you are right when you know nothing.
SwissArmyD at September 13, 2008 10:32 AM
It is far easier to believe you are right when you know nothing.
This is a great quote for a lot of occasions. Cool observation!
Rainer at September 13, 2008 11:10 AM
I'll second Rainer. That's a quote worthy of using. Well said, Swiss.
Not only exactly right but how scary are people with this attitude who hate people for the education they don't have.
T's Grammy at September 13, 2008 11:17 AM
When saying this it's important to be clear that I'm not just trying to pick up chicks (you can't pick up chicks on a blog anyway, right?). But I think an important bellwether for judging a society is how it treats its women generally.
That kind of needs to be its own category. But it also foretells success in other categories, include education, science and publishing. You don't do well in the modern world until you bring both halves of your population into those competitions.
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at September 13, 2008 11:58 AM
Tom and Jerry is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon not a Disney creation.
Facts shouldn't get in the way of belief.
David H. at September 13, 2008 11:59 AM
Good point, Crid.
T's Grammy at September 13, 2008 1:29 PM
So, the fact that I got tired of Jerry always winning over Tom apparently means I'm an anti-semite. Good to know.
Sio at September 13, 2008 2:19 PM
"You don't do well in the modern world" Crid...
I think that would be kinda the point... they don't want to do well in this modern world, and they don't care about our attitudes about that. Ultimately the jihadis WANT theings to go back to the middle ages. They are willing to use ways of doing so that are abhorent to us...
SwissArmyD at September 13, 2008 2:34 PM
That's precisely what I think: They really want to go back.
Rainer at September 13, 2008 4:41 PM
How can a culture that despises ties be otherwise so screwed up?
jerry at September 13, 2008 5:28 PM
SwissArmyD:
So do the Amish, but they don't blow us up over it.
Patrick at September 14, 2008 5:57 AM
Too many Muslims are told that the only book they need in their lives is the Koran. This policy is even taught in madrassas, I understand.
Robert at September 14, 2008 5:57 AM
Interesting article. I ditto Rainer's comment regarding the interesting point made by SwissArmyD
This is a great quote for a lot of occasions. Cool observation!"
Posted by: Rainer at September 13, 2008 11:10 AM
I just read this article and had to post a link to it here, considering how it correlates to Amy's piece.
It's rather difficult to produce, diffuse, and apply knowledge in the absence of teachers.
Tony at September 14, 2008 10:22 AM
Umm.. Haifa Dairy? -1 for spelling?
Radwaste at September 14, 2008 10:55 AM
It was more fun the other way
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at September 14, 2008 11:02 PM
Can I get a milk sheik at the Haifa Dairy?
Conan the Grammarian at September 15, 2008 9:12 AM
You've almost got to feel sorry for them. With entire economies floating on a single commodity, Mideast Oil exporters have managed to survive in a global marketplace that has advanced beyond them, but not beyond our need for their oil. I've heard Iranian expatriates express their desire for the day the oil runs out (or is made irrelevant), so the Mideast can finally face the choice of Modernizing or just reverting right the hell back to the stone age.
Frank at September 15, 2008 8:26 PM
To right.
Only a matter of time. If I were a ridiculously wealthy venture capitalist, I'd be pumping money at a means to mass produce an artificial version of oil. Just a little outlandish idea, can always use a few of those.
I wonder what the region will be like when there is nothing left.
Robert at September 16, 2008 1:42 PM
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