Monday, August 11, 2008

Singing Revolution

The movie the Singing Revolution about Estonia's escape from communism is now showing in Royal Oak. I saw a preview of the movie and got to talk with one of the producers a few months ago when his evening at reason's DC office happened to coincide with one of my IES consulting gigs. The bits I saw were both very moving and also fascinating history. They illustrated the important role that nationalism (something I am normally not a very big fan of) played in Estonia's liberation. They also illustrated how different things are in small countries, where all the movers and shakers know each other, than in large countries where they do not. This knowing sometimes allows trust, which in turn allows good outcomes that could not occur as easily in larger states.