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re: What keeps countries and regions from progressing?
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:37 am to thadcastle
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:37 am to thadcastle
Bad mentalities, either social or economic.
Tribal mentalities of “I’m going to enrich my people and frick everyone else!” don’t make for a strong country. It makes for constant struggling to be the person in charge and, when power changes, there will be a lot of pain for the group that fell out of power.
Economic mentalities can have the same reasoning. I’m leaving socialist / communist out of this and just focusing on capitalist here. If a group has an economic stranglehold on a region thanks to agriculture, petroleum, etc, they tend to actively undercut any competition, either directly with their business or indirectly with new industry that would lessen their control over the area.
This tends to be why areas rich in natural resources tend to be banana republics, as whoever controls the oil / diamonds / mining / whatever tends to focus on that at the expense of everything else.
Tribal mentalities of “I’m going to enrich my people and frick everyone else!” don’t make for a strong country. It makes for constant struggling to be the person in charge and, when power changes, there will be a lot of pain for the group that fell out of power.
Economic mentalities can have the same reasoning. I’m leaving socialist / communist out of this and just focusing on capitalist here. If a group has an economic stranglehold on a region thanks to agriculture, petroleum, etc, they tend to actively undercut any competition, either directly with their business or indirectly with new industry that would lessen their control over the area.
This tends to be why areas rich in natural resources tend to be banana republics, as whoever controls the oil / diamonds / mining / whatever tends to focus on that at the expense of everything else.
0
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:39 am to thadcastle
Lack of racism
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:41 am to thadcastle
Culture
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:43 am to Bestbank Tiger
I don't know the answer.
I read a book recently about this guy's travels in Africa and it was fascinating and depressing at how badly all the billions sent there have done nothing and in many people's opinions have made things worse.
They talked about how these NGOs will go in and spend millions constructing a clean water system. They'll then spend months training the locals on how to maintain and take care of it.
Literally, weeks after the NGO leaves, the guys in charge will stripp the materials and sell them.
It comes down to a complete inability to see beyond your immediate needs. Selling some copper gives them money NOW. They don't worry or even think about tomorrow. It's almost like it doesn't exist.
I have to wonder if that's what our urban scholars outlook is as well. There seems to be zero fear of retribution or jail time for murder or crime. Maybe the share that lack of ability to at all consider the future and are completely consumed by the present.
Plus NGOs just train people to rely on handouts. Government steals most of the money and the masses continue to live in abject poverty.
After reading that book, I'll never give money to some NGO doing projects like that in 3rd world countries. It's just pissing in the wind. There has to be a better way.
I read a book recently about this guy's travels in Africa and it was fascinating and depressing at how badly all the billions sent there have done nothing and in many people's opinions have made things worse.
They talked about how these NGOs will go in and spend millions constructing a clean water system. They'll then spend months training the locals on how to maintain and take care of it.
Literally, weeks after the NGO leaves, the guys in charge will stripp the materials and sell them.
It comes down to a complete inability to see beyond your immediate needs. Selling some copper gives them money NOW. They don't worry or even think about tomorrow. It's almost like it doesn't exist.
I have to wonder if that's what our urban scholars outlook is as well. There seems to be zero fear of retribution or jail time for murder or crime. Maybe the share that lack of ability to at all consider the future and are completely consumed by the present.
Plus NGOs just train people to rely on handouts. Government steals most of the money and the masses continue to live in abject poverty.
After reading that book, I'll never give money to some NGO doing projects like that in 3rd world countries. It's just pissing in the wind. There has to be a better way.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:47 am to ghost2most
Greater societies should always conquer lesser ones. It's how the world advances. Imagine our land if the natives had never been conquered?
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:48 am to Jcorye1
quote:
Might Makes Right is a tough policy to beat.
This.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:17 am to thadcastle
quote:Usually some combination of:
Why can’t some countries ever advance?
* less favorable geography (too far off the beaten paths to benefit from many exchanges of ideas and goods, especially historically);
* less favorable natural resources and climate;
* less ambitious culture;
* less intelligent / less ambitious people (see the account of the finding of the 'dissatisfaction' / 'striving' gene?);
* culture that places less value on education; and/or
* culture of / tolerance for corruption.
I don't doubt there are other substantial reasons too. The basic point is: in most cases, it's probably several reasons, not one reason.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:21 am to ghost2most
quote:
I read a book recently about this guy's travels in Africa and it was fascinating and depressing at how badly all the billions sent there have done nothing and in many people's opinions have made things worse.
Yeah, I knew a guy in DC who worked for one of these "make Africa great" NGOs. He basically said the same thing. Despite billions of dollars of philanthropic investment and countless resources and hours, they can never get to step 2 in any process.
A basic example - a farmer can cultivate one acre of land to feed himself and his family then another acre to sell surplus crops on the market. In Africa that farmer will quit after step 1 because why do twice as much work when my family is already fed? And let's say a dispute arises because he has a neighbor who owns a cow that wanders into his land. A compromise would be to allow the cow to graze on his land in return for half of the milk the cow produces. The farmer would simply reply why do that when I can whack my neighbor in the head with a machete and eat his cow.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:27 am to ghost2most
quote:Well, you have taken away their incentive to further their society and themselves.
It comes down to a complete inability to see beyond your immediate needs. Selling some copper gives them money NOW. They don't worry or even think about tomorrow. It's almost like it doesn't exist.
Why should they care when another NGO will simply bring water now?
Their entire textile industry is fricked because we think it is appropriate to deliver free clothes to Africa.
quote:It has nothing to do with retribution or the fear of jail.
I have to wonder if that's what our urban scholars outlook is as well. There seems to be zero fear of retribution or jail time for murder or crime. Maybe the share that lack of ability to at all consider the future and are completely consumed by the present.
There is no fear of failure, because failure doesn’t result in your possible death.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:28 am to thadcastle
Legacy of settler colonialism perhaps?
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:32 am to c on z
quote:Not anymore.
Legacy of settler colonialism perhaps?
Now it is a legacy of the negative impacts of helping constantly.
Here is an article from 2015.
LINK
quote:
Resale of charity shop rejects has destroyed local textile industry but a proposed ban on the importation of used garments risks putting thousands out of work
quote:
Kenya alone imports around 100,000 tonnes of second-hand clothes, shoes and accessories a year – many of which were originally donated to charity shops in the west. According to Oxfam, more than 70% of the clothes donated globally end up in Africa.
quote:
The decline of Kenya’s textile industry dates back to the early 1980s, when market liberalisation policies spearheaded by the World Bank opened up the local economy to second-hand clothes. Previously, they had been distributed for free among the poor.
Stop fricking helping all the damn time. We are making it worse.
How y’all don’t see the negative impacts of “constantly helping” and handouts astonishes me.
This post was edited on 10/22/21 at 9:33 am
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:47 am to thadcastle
Climate change?
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:50 am to thadcastle
The underlying religious and moral code must have certain ideals that make it more likely it will progress. See the Protestant work ethic for instance. It has to be ingrained into the psyche of the culture. Broadly speaking you need to create an environment where people value the preservation of values that favor progress. Those societies, over time, advance.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:52 am to thadcastle
Corruption is a big drain on developing countries. They don’t have the institutional strength to deter and enforce those laws, and money lost to corrupt officials creates basically zero productivity. It’s an economic black hole.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:52 am to thadcastle
Corruption, racism, taxes, low IQ, high burdens to entry to start businesses, lack of basic education
Posted on 10/22/21 at 10:08 am to thadcastle
Because wanting to better yourself is white supremacy.
I think IQ has something to do with it.
China invested about $3 billion in a copper mine in Peru and also built a brand new town for the locals. yet they go on to say some people there still lack jobs and are unemployable because they have no skills.
I think IQ has something to do with it.
China invested about $3 billion in a copper mine in Peru and also built a brand new town for the locals. yet they go on to say some people there still lack jobs and are unemployable because they have no skills.
This post was edited on 10/22/21 at 10:19 am
Posted on 10/22/21 at 11:02 am to thadcastle
Honestly?
Lack of education
Lack of resources
Crooked governments
Lack of education
Lack of resources
Crooked governments
Posted on 10/22/21 at 11:03 am to c on z
quote:
Legacy of settler colonialism perhaps?
Like the USA?
We need more colonialism.
Your way is to import low IQ people, which is a recipe for disaster.
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