Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising? - Discussion Boards

serenity

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Re: Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising?
May 20, 2005 - 03:06 AM

hello simbowo. it seems to me that you are partly speaking out of frustration in the present day situation of what is happening and what should have happened.

yeah. its true that most aid agencies come to your rescue, and spend more than necessary on stuff that would be irrelevant, and you think that well, they were there and they were supposed to help you and their expenditure is unnecessary. but its their money at the end of the day.

i had read somewhere that help comes to those who help themselves so instead of depending on soemone to clean up the mess, its time that we as individuals pick up the equipment and get to the job, because people who come to help will do so at there own time and will.

you do have solace in the fact that, they (aid agencies) were set-up with one aim, and that is to help. but it is your country!

African

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True but :-)
May 21, 2005 - 04:40 AM

I agree Valenski, it is true but the stark reality is that there is too much reluctance on the part of the developing nations to formulate good policies that will spur their governments to growth. Many leaders in these countries would rather amass illegal wealth at the expense of improving the livelihoods of their people. That is why I still believe that the problem in the Third World is mainly a self-created dilemma even though its true that there is some external inteerference from the developed world.

My belief is that if you believe your 'friend' is taking you at ransom for their own selfishness then tell them so. And at the same time clean up your house first. Its no use pointing to coackroaches in someone's house while yours is breaming with roaches. Thats what the developing nations should do. Let them clean their houses and then tell their friends to clean theirs too.

serenity

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Re: Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising?
May 21, 2005 - 04:57 AM

Hey Simbowo. I hope you're doing well.

You made a valid point out here. The developing country is in a turmoil, and no one wants to take up the leadership effectively, and if they do, then either they will get killed or something will happen to them, or they will not receive any support diminishing into oblivion. The entire naiton is going through such a tough time, that alongwith finding someone to take the responsibilty, you also have to tackle mass poverty, hunger, strike, sale of sex, AIDS etc. at such a point, thinknig about education or for that matter trying to tell people to have patience and to chill can become some sort of an impossible task.

Most importantly, even the leaders are insecure, since there is this fear that poverty might strike again, they will rather amass wealth for themselves than help anyone. Its like every man for himself. So what is it that we can do about it? How do you find a remedy? Its complete chaos.

The problem is that there was no structure in the country. The nations were torn down by tribal war fair and with the invasions of foreigners who exported people out of the country as slaves... nothing imprved. No one wanted to tell them that you need to organize re-structure and grow. No one was interested. Then a few like you got educated (aware) and realised that there is more to it.

In such a case, you should get help from people who can help whether they belong to a developed country or are developing like you. But the problem is that the system is so corrupted that even the word "Help" is institutionalised.

Help would mean, helping and not asking a question and having no self-interest in it. The problem now is that, maybe some helpers think you're beyond help and/ or there is nothing they can do about it, so they decide okay, so dump it. There is no passion left, the entire help thing becomes work, you get a regular salary and you chill in another nation. There is nothing to loose right?

For example Somalia, I don't really know it is that anyone can do... everyone is trying their best. Trying to provide food etc, while fighting social prejudices and cultural restrictions. The problem is that there are mass areas in africa that cannot be used for restructuring and establishment or progress. So you will actually have to create an entire city. Most people are hungry and the basic amenities are not met.... most funds are going to into keeping people fed rather than build an infrastructure. The help comes in in small numbers , enough to feed everyone for some time, so by the time more help comes the facilities are exhausted and none is left to build.

Someone needs to think really fast. Instead of just trying to keep people alive, we need to now take another step quickly and start empowering them in order to make sure they can take care of themselves.

So help is there and everyone I guess is trying to do what they can, but unless everyone really gets serious about it nothing will happen.

African

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Valid point
May 21, 2005 - 06:22 AM

Empowerment si the word:-) The first step is to empower them with information about their righst and the power of their voting cards. Secondly, tell them that politicians will still be politicians. They incite the public to fights and then go and drink and do business together. Hypocrisy we call it.

Somalia is not entirely hopeless. The problem there is commercialization of development. Many of the war lords fear losing power to one national leader because the businesses, which many of them have ran without government control or taxation for years will crumble plunging them into poverty. Apparently this is the same paranoia most Third World leaders habour.

TIG is doing a good job empowering the youth with information and resources. The spill-over benefits should then trickle down to the common man in our regions. We should bring these information to the ground level. Partner with TIG to bring positive changes and help halt endemic poverty in th Developing World.

The Asian Tigers had the information, empowered their citizens with it and are now strides away in terms of technoeconomic and social development. We can do the same but only with good leadership, goodwill and honest friendship from the developed world. Handouts will never solve Third World poverty problems. Its saddening that a country like Kenya for example, has every born and unborn indebted to the tune of US $400. I am sure there are other countries where the situation could be worse.

African

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Africa is a beautiful continent...
May 21, 2005 - 07:03 AM

Diamonds, titanium, gold, copper, fertile lands, scenic hills etc scape the African geographical terrain yet most people in the developed world still believe that Africans live in caves, on trees and have pet lions and leopards. In this age of ICT, it beats logic that many of them should rely on biased media reporting rather than very facts on their own from the web.

The last African ex-Presidents' Conference is South Africa expressed dismay at this biasness. Isnt it a wonder then that most of the current African and developing world youth would rather disparage their countries and live in developing world sometimes chasing mirages doing menial and inexcusable jobs rather than developing a positive image of their countries and help develop them. In human nature, image and self esteem go together. With a positive image self esteem will be spurred and thus positivity towards developing their countries.

serenity

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Re: Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising?
May 21, 2005 - 07:19 AM

oh so sorry... africa is rich in a lot of resources.. but you know what, that needs to be used so as to promote the country in its real light.

I really hope something can be done about it.

African

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Ofcourse the current crop of youth are the ones to develop the third world
May 21, 2005 - 11:05 AM

I agree. We as the current crop of youth are the ones to develop the Third World. With our strength, innovation, agility and goodwill we are going to do it. From a microcosm to a macrocosm, we will do it. We will use all the available avenues such as TIG to bring development to the common man.

serenity

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Re: Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising?
May 21, 2005 - 11:31 AM

Three cheers to your thought!!! or should we say.. Ameen!

African

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Here:-)
May 27, 2005 - 07:27 AM

Valenska,

Its too soon to celebrate, hardwork is what is going to make a difference. Lets put all manifestations of celebration aside. Let the youth stop clubbing at the expense of their future. Let them work for what they input today will determine the output they access tomorrow. I still think now is not the time for celebration:-) Watch out, lest you recede rather than progress in your celebration. What we need is stability first and a surety of that stability.

JBI Le Collégien

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Re: Developed world fears developing nations' and Africa's rising?
May 30, 2005 - 03:57 AM

Noone can chase you if you are not running away. Handouts are not forced on people who do not want them. The fault is whithin us. The solution is to find and squash it first, then look for external constraints. I find nothing wrong with recieving help. But the question is how we use it? Use it to develop ourselves and we prosper. Use it to purchase and monopolise gunpowder and we fall. Lets squash the fault in ourselves first.

itai PROFILE

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I mentioned that:-)
June 3, 2005 - 05:12 AM

Thats the first point I did mention. Its true that the problem lies with the Africans themselves. In as much as many of them would like to shift blame to the developed world, many of them still condone corruption, looting, ethnicity and other forms of mediocrity. The point is first shedding off these cuticles of mediocrity, and other frass before focusing on the wider global affairs. Its true that no one will be given handouts if they refuse to take it. But then this takes us back to the kind of leadership we have in Africa. The truth is that many of them are more interested in illegally amassing personal wealth while their electorate (or dictatorate for some) wallow in quandary and abject want. While nobilities like Nelson Mandela and Muammar Ghaddafi provide the yardstick for responsible leadership in Africa, many of the political crocodiles and hyenas are yet to mutate into responsible leaders. They still prefer to work in the political realms of greed and selfishness. The only hope for the Continet is responsible leadership. Maybe the current crop of youth will provide it. There is also need for frequent dialogue and discussions between the African youth and the wise luminaries from the Continent. This maybe in the form of such a forum as "The Mandela-African Youth Annual Dialogue" etc. These may serve to as pedestals for acquistion of better leadership qualities by the Continent's youth most of who are faced with cultural confusion.

Martin Tairo

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We have eyes but we cant see.
June 9, 2005 - 12:55 PM

The developed world are simply making a fortune out of our ignorance. How do they (like Britain) manage to flourish when they have no resources of their own? Maybe its because they give us money and tell us the shop from which to buy.

Our leaders are also to blame. Although Aid has many demerits, it has its merits too. I cant think of a situation where a country on ground zero can jump start without AId from the west. The main problem is management. How can a responsible enterpreneur take a loan to offset running expenses? How will you pay that loan? Its a case of African governments having no strategic plans on the use of money they get from abroad.

We both have a part to play. The west will have to stop attaching strings to the Aid they extend and the developing world should improve their money management skills.

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True
July 4, 2005 - 09:46 AM

The whole thing is just that, business. Its quite saddening that the secret bank accounts saga are just going on unchecked. It is even more grieving to know that the funds being kept there are from Third World public coffers. Its time we fought for justice and good leadership in the developing world more or so Africa. Otherwise, the corruptedly richer will get even richer and the swindled poor will continue sliding into the dungeons of paupership.