Monday, July 04, 2005
More Aid to Africa?
It is a delicate question. Surely every humanitarian person wants to see the standard of living in Africa improved. Surely every humanitarian person wants to see the abject poverty in Africa eliminated. No one should ever die of starvation.
But why assume that any significant progress will be made just by sending money to Africa - channeling money through corrupt government officials who view political office as a family business? Today, no matter how much money is poured into Africa, the standard of living of the common people will not improve. Yes, when a natural disaster occurs, monetary donations can facilitate some short-term relief work. But in terms of long-term development, not much is likely to be achieved from mere monetary donations under the current conditions. The common people will not see any significant return on such type of investment.
What Africa badly needs is not handouts but good leadership and a progressive socioeconomic system. This is not something that the wealthy nations of the world can dole out. It has to come from within each African nation.
So what can the more developed nations do to help Africa? We have all heard the saying by Lao Tzu: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." But the problem today is that none of the developed nations are in a position to teach Africa what Africa needs to know. The leadership in the developed nations is not particularly exemplary, and the socioeconomic system in the developed nations is not at all progressive. So if the developed nations of the world - or the people in the developed nations of the world - really want to help Africa, then the greatest thing that they can do is to get their own countries in order before telling Africa what to do or how to do it.
But why assume that any significant progress will be made just by sending money to Africa - channeling money through corrupt government officials who view political office as a family business? Today, no matter how much money is poured into Africa, the standard of living of the common people will not improve. Yes, when a natural disaster occurs, monetary donations can facilitate some short-term relief work. But in terms of long-term development, not much is likely to be achieved from mere monetary donations under the current conditions. The common people will not see any significant return on such type of investment.
What Africa badly needs is not handouts but good leadership and a progressive socioeconomic system. This is not something that the wealthy nations of the world can dole out. It has to come from within each African nation.
So what can the more developed nations do to help Africa? We have all heard the saying by Lao Tzu: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." But the problem today is that none of the developed nations are in a position to teach Africa what Africa needs to know. The leadership in the developed nations is not particularly exemplary, and the socioeconomic system in the developed nations is not at all progressive. So if the developed nations of the world - or the people in the developed nations of the world - really want to help Africa, then the greatest thing that they can do is to get their own countries in order before telling Africa what to do or how to do it.
