The Third World, once referred to as emerging, are not emerging anymore--they are falling back into disaster.
With One Million Refugees and almost 600,000 children about to die as a result of starvation, there is an indisputable need for a change in the process. (The same as with Europe only more urgent and with more dire consequences.) What is needed is a pro-active project to move people forward. (The same as with Greece only more urgent and with more dire consequences.)
That massive quantities of Food Aid is desperately needed is a given. No dispute. However, food alone will not solve the problem. There are no additional efforts with a realistic approach to accomplish anything substantive or sustaining.
An analogy would be to think of the problem as if it were a river. The problem is like a flooding river. The river never stops flowing and the erosion is constant.
The river never has the opportunity to enrich the fertile lands around it and the fertile lands become arid and barren. Get the picture?
The people who are suffering cannot congregate and impact, but rather must disperse and enrich. This cannot happen without the tools for development. (Op. cit. my monograph on Greece.)
In addition to FOOD AID (a given which for some reason needs repeating) we need a project (not a plan) a project to aid the disaster stricken.
A good start is "Cottage Industrialisation". This is real, not symbolic.
Potters
Sandal Makers
Weavers
Farmers
Merchants
Hunters
Gatherers
Health care helpers
Animal Husbandry Leaders
and certainly....above all....TEACHERS!
To that list we can add scientists and communications experts.
Why the problem?
The rest of the world gives Africa either the bare minimum of aid or a great deal of aid in an ad hoc effort to stave off a Global Public Relations Disaster. However, the rest of the world refuses to give Africa the Application Specific Assistance at the human level.
Regional aid, National aid, Population aid--none of which helps one person earn a living in his or her village, is the palliative to ameliorate the guilt.
The only time that "nations" go beyond that is when we witness private industry exploitation of natural resources aided and abetted by an oppressive regime.
Corporate development exploits
Minerals
Oil
Labour
Profits go to
Investors
Oppressive Leaders
People do not profit.
People are scarcely appeased.
Future economic development and growth and progress are squelched.
Civil rights continue to be violated.
Personal initiative is thwarted.
The There is Health
Health and Pharmaceuticals are Crucial for Third World Survival.
Emergency Medical Triage
Treatment
Preventive Medicine and Medication
Pharmaceutical R&D
and
Medical Education. Teaching People How to Teach Medicine.
In addition we need Medical Research Co-Operation & a Global Hospitalisation Programme.
Why the Impediment to Implementing a Solution?
You will have to Google this to find the name of the economist who said it, however, here goes.
We favour the rich more than the poor, not because we want to be rich. We favour the rich more than the poor because we want to have people who are less fortunate than we are. This serves as a buffer between us and the disaster that they suffer.
Guess what? That will no longer be an emotional lollipop.
There is what is known as "The Tipping Point".
Fix the problem now, while it is merely gargantuan, rather than wait until it devours the world.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
slimfairview@yahoo.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview
