Chad_Small said...
Capitalism does not make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The truth is that capitalism in a true form (not Socialism) give everyone the opportunity to succeed. The problem lies in corrupt governments pure and simple. Why is Africa poor and starving? The governments do it to keep themselves in power. Give any African nation a decent government and a open market and the people with rise up and lift themselves out of poverty. All the aid in the world has done very little in the last century, nothing will change until the people and leaders remove the corruption and strive for progress through industry. It is the only way they will stay the tide of poverty. Without capitalism they will stay poor and starving and nothing the governments do will fix it.
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To Chad_Small....
Thank you for sharing your opinion. I agree with you that many governments in Africa could do more to allow their people to rise out of poverty. However, I was referring to food shortages that were originally said to be caused by locust invasions and then droughts. The BBC News correspondent that I quoted said that the market itself was the reason that famine was affecting Niger, not the drought, and certainly not governmental action. Apparently, there is more food to go around than thought, but only the rich can afford it. So, there are men stuffing their bellies with meat, while children starve bc they don't have any grain. There is nobody else to blame besides the free market, in this case.
Again, I would like to reiterate that I agree with your statement about certain governments forcing their people into poverty (i.e. Mugabe's Zimbabwe), but in Niger it is the fault of a dysfunctional market, clear and simple. Market distortions happen, allowing some to starve, and this proves that humanity cannot rely on the invisible hand alone to guide us.
One last remark: I do not think that it is as simple as you put it. There are governments in Africa that are free and fair with open markets, however, the people are still impoverished. Maybe this is due to Western businesses and governments driving Africa down. Let me bring up Western agricultural subsidies as an example. This is just one method that the US, the EU, and Japan have used to hold Africa's economic head underwater.
The international market is distorted as well, and this distortion is allowing innocent people to be exploited. Maybe you can ignore this, but as an American, I feel pretty guilty about it.
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Western subsidies are not the culprit. If there is enough demand for food then the market will move towards the area of demand, in this case Africa. In almost every case where a nation is starving its due to its governments actions or inactions. Stalin with the Ukraine, the communist Ethiopian government, Sudan, your example of Zimbabwe is a perfect example. Niger might be "free and open" but typically its for the select few who can bribe and throw their power around to their advantage (so not so free and open after all). Africa has a long way to go. The best we can do is work to teach the people how to become better farmers, ranchers, and cultivators. I commend the peace corp volunteers who work tirelessy trying to help those in need, but that is one example where our government had setup programs to help those less fortunate along with money and the returns have not been as promising. I'm not saying to abandon the process but after decades of stagnation I think we need to put more pressure on the governments. The Marshall plan rebuilt Europe after massive devestation from WWII and we have spent multiple times the amount spent on the Marshall plan to no avail. The African people are being robbed and it all points to the corrupt leaders who benefited at their peoples expense. Also, most African nations teter on the edge of instability. My friend is from Malawi and his father (a government official) has seen two overthrows and spent time in jail and we all know the other countries throughout the continent that are on the verge of civil war or have rebels terrorizing the area. I could go on and on, you're right it's not a simple answer, but I don't think its fair to blame the west when the west as spent so much to try and help to only see their attempts fail.
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