this is what carl marx said. what you realize when you something about the history of england, it is a very peculiar country in a number of ways that i will explain. to expect other countries to replicate i think is highly unrealistic. and, in fact, in my view, it was china, not the -- china did not establish the first state. that happened in a lot of places in egypt and mesopotamia. the chinese established the first modern state. not counting on your cousins and friends, but based on civil service, e rational bureaucracy, centralized administration. and they did this in the third century b.c. it's a historical achievement that i think a lot of people have not adequately recognized. and so instead of starting with england or, you know, greece and rome and then going through the magna carta and the rise of the democracy in england, start with china. china created the first modern state. why are other societies different from china? that's the basic background. now there are three important baskets of political ins