| By Gavin Chait,
on 08 January 2007
|
 You can't make them like you
The ((environment)) is one of savage authority. The physical shape of the cities was inspired by ((oppression)). Every law, from drivers’ licences to business permits, has been inspired by a blood-thirsty dictatorship.
A person growing up in such an environment has a choice. Be something the system doesn’t want you to be, or fit in with the system. If you choose to fight the system, well, let’s just say that Saddam’s prisons never struggled to find tenants.
If you really wanted to be something else, and you weren’t prepared to go against the state, then you became a refugee and started a new life in a more accommodating place. In other words, you changed your environment.
Across the breadth of history people who didn’t agree or didn’t like the environment in which they found themselves left and went to start new lives in new places. Seeing as how difficult it is to do this usually only the most ((talent))ed and ambitious would do so. Countries built by immigrants (such as Australia or the US) tend to be more dynamic and sophisticated than those where internal strife resulted in mass ((emigration)) (anywhere in Africa).
Ireland was an economic and social mess up until it joined the EU in 1973. Membership gave it an astonishing advantage. The ((Common Agricultural Policy)) dramatically increased the prices of its agricultural products and gave them free access to mainland Europe. It also had similar access for its other manufactures. Investment flooded into the country to take advantage of its cheap labour, low land prices and direct access to the EU. The Irish diaspora also came home, bringing their experiences of more sophisticated climes with them.
The real advantage that Ireland enjoyed in 1973 was a sudden change in the environment it had experienced to date.
Social development organisations usually focus on individual support since it is difficult to change environments. These are usually the prerogative of governments and multinational bodies (like the UN). What is interesting about the Millennium Development Goals is how many of them are dependent on government intervention.
NGOs may work in Africa to assist with medication and symptomatic relief for individuals suffering from ((malaria)) but governments could help things by removing their excise duties on mosquito nets. They are not made in Africa but are imported. Prices vary from $ 45 in Swaziland to $ 35 in Sudan rendering them unaffordable to most. NGOs also have to pay these duties, severely reducing the scope of their reach. When Uganda dropped import tariffs to 5% the price plummeted to $ 3.50 per net and malaria levels plunged.As in peace-keeping so in development. You could be the best development agency in the world doing the best job in the world but if the environment itself doesn’t support your efforts then your impact will be minimal.
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Keywords : environment, development, africa, ireland, duties, malaria, talent, tariffs, George W Bush, Saddam Hussein, oppression |
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