ABSTRACT
A collective institution often cited by N. K. Mikhailovsky and embodying the collective spirit of the Russian people was the artel. He was convinced that the artel was not a function of economic backwardness, but rather it showed the co-operative spirit of Russia. For centuries the basic component of European agriculture had been the family farm. In Czech, the older term for it was 'grunt'. The word, taken from the German 'grund', actually means ground or foundation. Political and economic life should be founded on the varied and versatile co-operation of such dynamically appearing and disappearing organizations. As far as the economic life of society goes, Havel believes in self-management. Germany occupies in spirit the same intermediate situation between Russia and France that Madariaga occupies in space, which is perhaps the underlying reason why she is so economically successful. In the recent financial and economic crisis, Holland and Sweden, being comparatively 'feminine' cultures, are amongst the least significantly affected.
