And learning the right lessons is becoming more crucial as history fast-forwards into the next millennium. The velocity of change is accelerating. Societies with the right competitive advantages will leap ahead even faster. Those without will fall behind further. Finding the right software should be easy.
Successful societies exist.
Best practices are visible. After all, Asia has copied and even improved hardware. But even the successful societies may not understand the real software fueling their success. Yet some societies, including major nations, which tried instant transformations to democracy have come to grief. So too those societies which tried free-market economics without the right institutional frameworks in place.