Quote:
Originally Posted by spellbanisher
Good points, but the nations you point out have been historically powerful and are resource rich. They also haven't been devastated in the way that other countries have been. If anything, the Maoist Revolution, which was horrible, was necessary, because it kicked out the countries that had divided China into territories or spheres of control. If anything, China is just returning to levels of prosperity it had experienced before western invasion.
And the countries that you claim are the way they are because of a "lack of education or stability" are that way because of things that western countries have done, whether it is providing corrupt dictatorships with weapons or building extractive industries(industries designed to take resources out of a country) instead of productive or manufacturing industries. I have already explained how world economic organizations create bubbles in third world countries so they can extract as much wealth as possible. In the Philippines the U.S. government propped up a small group of about 60 powerful families to rule the philippines. These families still essentially rule the philippines, and are primarily responsible for the vast inequalities and persistent poverty in the philippines. your correct that aid doesn't work, but that is usually because it is either to pro-American dictatorships or has specific strings attached that prevent the recipient countries from doing anything with it. It also doesn't help that the U.S. floods the global market with subsidized foods. For most countries, the first way they can build wealth is to sell food, but they can't compete with subsidized foods. I'll elaborate on these things further in a later post, but I have something I need to do right now.
|
You make some valid points. Yes, western colonialism has a lot to do with the predicament the African countries are in. But I was talking about remedies at this point. And the US installed (or supported existing) dictatorships in South Korea and Taiwan, but both those countries have had very successful transitions to democracy.
And no, not just powerful countries have risen through foreign investment. The last time China was a rich and powerful country was in the Ming dynasty. Though they were a lot better off before the opium wars than after. But the state of Chinas economy after the cultural revolution was a desperate as any today -- but it had a stable society.
And Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia (if we also include the ones that rose up 40-50 years ago) have always been China's punching bags. They were never strong countries, until foreign trade got going.