Where do I stand before digging into topic Developing world?
What is my feeling about it after 2 days of kick-off meeting in Brussels?
I do not have experience and passion for developing world and way we are using to develop (or help). After speech of Marina Ponti regarding UN Millenium Campaign I felt like we are talking about other planet, society and world. Because demands, visions or hopes She set were so far from reality I have experienced, seen and felt. Important point was made concerning political will of governments. Which somehow is true, but in the same time total naive perspective - like putting responsibility more farer away. This is not how it functions when we are streaming for profit hits, growth and expansion of markets.
There is society and people who are concerned about need to help and prevent death from trivial cause as hunger (trivial in sense of amount of food that is pulled into rubbish in Europe and USA). I agree on need to help, but I went to kick-off meeting with question in my mind.
'Do we give fish or teach fishing?'
But on flight home I still feel that I didn't receive answer how we can teach fishing, because I do not believe and support just giving fish away. This was my expectation from Day2. Today I want to say that it seems to be up to us in this platform to figure out answer to this question. This is my hope.
I am starting this blogging competition with low belief in approaches taken by governments and organizations.
Today Millenium Development Goals seems to be dreamy idea set by world leaders some time ago.
I am looking forward to competiton platform to change my perception.
* As Mr.Barrosso said regarding Greece financial problems 'There is no stability without solidarity and no solidarity without stability' Financial Times March 23
Cross-posted on my blog.
Quite nice blog. If I may add an idea – the sea is dangerously overfished, so teaching fishing will make terrible situation from a fish perspective intolerable….
If I may add, we can talk also about giving bread or teaching how to grow, bake etc. following
To help in trivial way of giving or to help of teaching and developing?
What exactly are you teaching? Your answer to this question reflects how you define the root cause of the problems facing the developing world.
I was surprised that so few people put population in their top choices of issues yesterday. I was not at all surprised with the population growth figures Oliver Wates then mentioned from the 1950s. I would also like to point out that it was in this time period that countries started sending monetary aid to governments in Africa, encouraged by the success aid had in rebuilding Europe following World War II. The difference was those countries already had economic infrastructure to put that money to use. This infrastructure did not exist in Africa, so its leaders used the money to spoil themselves and buy guns to keep themselves in power.
Should Africa be like us? Globalization tends to move the world that way, mostly because in this era it needs resources from Africa but does not want to give anything back.
More importantly, do Africans want Africa to be like us? Wealth does not correlate with happiness, and in the United States there are lots of overworked, unhappy people.
Nice start! And more importantly: good questions! I’m looking forward to find answers too…
It’s easy to take an idealist starting point, but I agree with you - it can all seem very remote from our day to day lives. That’s probably one of the greatest challenges. How do we see “their” problems as “our” problems? Their development as our development?
@Perry
There are approaches (economical, technical etc.) countries, nations have been taking on. There still could be place for experiments.
Does everything depends on infrastructure you have?
Does mind depends on infrastructure?
Why there is such amazing population increase?
I am not advocating USA and Europe cash streaming lifestyle with enormous working hours and no time for family and love, but in the same time I can’t agree that that somehow is the way we develop our economies.
@Jodi
We don’t see. Because our problems are s*** comparing with their problems. Maybe I am wrong, but I can’t imagine not having clean water. I even do not want to try. Maybe we need to try a bit of empathy in this case?