Today I went to work handing out samples at WarehouseMart. This is not a job requiring much thought or talent, but it does give one an appreciation for those that wind up standing there for 8-10 hours straight on a more frequent basis. My feet hurt so much that it boggles the mind how I think I'll get through tomorrow's shift.
Oh, and my pride has taken a blow... but that's nothing new.
I'd like to wave a big thanks to my mom, who pretty much single-handedly bailed me out of the Mixer issues I was having, resulting in my having one of the best Mixers known to man on my cupboard. I made 9 mini-loaves of banana bread first thing.
I plan on making regular loaves as soon as I recover from this job.
I was reading recently about Brad Pitt and his aid to Africa. His comments about "us" - assumably the Western Powers - dragging Africa down really upset me. Since I've studied both Economics and Marketing recently, I feel I have a few things worth mentioning:
1) Brad Pitt says that we don't allow Africa to earn "real" money by processing the coffee beans we buy from them elsewhere. Well, Brad, if they sold us processed beans, that's what we'd buy. Instead, they sell us whole beans.
2) "We're digging a pit for them, and throwing a little money into the pit." Sorry, Brad, but I'm not digging the Pitt about now. You see, Africa has resources that simply aren't being utilized for greatest efficiency. It doesn't take a Western Power or a white/asian/latino man to tell them efficiency, either. They have the capability, the brains, and the resources to sort all of this out just fine. They lack two things.
A) Property rights. Like Mexico, most African nations lack firm property rights laws. This makes for a very unstable market where "fair" prices vary wildly and contacts for anyone wielding power usually involves knowing who has the guns.
B) A free-market economy. There are three basic types of economy, and Africa is mired in the first two: command and traditional. Nothing wrong with tradition as long as you aren't dealing with international trade, where your biases about trade butt heads with those of differing beliefs. Command has been proven massively inefficient (think U.S.S.R.). While most governments dabble in command to some extent (buy American!), free-market is where it's at. If individual Africans or firms of Africans ran how their trade was done on an international level (even between African nations), barring some traditional barriers I think they'd do splendidly.
Basically, I think Brad fails to credit Africa with the drive to do things, the ability to get things done, and the savvy to achieve it wisely.
Dork.
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Africa lacks the capital that so defines, you know, capitalism.
Africa is a continent of abundant capital ("The combined value of assets" - my economics book). Without plundering the natural wonders there are still such things as diamond mines and... oh, yes: people. Perhaps the greatest resource that any country has is it's people. Human capital can not be overvalued. Many Asian countries have taken advantage of this resource to revitalize their economies by doing menial labor for foreign countries. While not looked upon favorably by more upscale world citizens, they invigor the local economy, allowing more advances to take place because of a richer economy.
drives the rise for Banana Republics
What drives the rise of Banana Republics is the gullibility of the locals and their dissatisfaction of the current situation. Instead of learning about new forms of governments, reworking the laws, and creating a system that works for them, they instead grab the nearest schmuck with any level of charisma (12+ I'm thinking), slaps a dorky hat on him, and calls him the head of the revolution. Then the schmuck, having no idea how to really run a government, does what he's seen others do (such as the last schlemiel in the same office). Return to start.
"neither is the solution to poverty and all its related problems in Africa so simple as telling them "well start utilizing your resources efficiently!"
Quite right. They've got to fix the governments and laws as well, which is no small task. This still doesn't make Brad Pitt right.
We... don't play fair on the world market.
I'm confused. To me, when the word "fair" comes up regarding trade, it means something like this:
Sue:"I have 4 marbles, Bob. I will accept 2 sticks."
Bob:"I will not give you 2 sticks"
Jack:"I will give you two sticks."
Sue:"Fine" (hands Jack marbles in exchange for sticks).
Simple. One person offers goods at a price and someone accepts those terms. If those terms are unacceptable, no trade.
If the world market isn't fair, for some reason beyond my imagining, perhaps Africa could trade fairly with itself and tell the rest of the world to go hang. Africa gets by fine without the rest of us (save Aid, which isn't given in trade).
Incidentally, giving Africa, or any other country, Aid, in the form of surplus items, is incredibly bad for them. We should stop doing it.
Woo!
Alright, I'll start with saying a few things:
Medicine is important. No way can the Africans, under the current healthcare infrastructure of their governments, have even a moderately acceptable lifespan/survival rate with hope of reaching the world status they have the potential for.
The Oil thing? Well, it's a bad example for my purposes. It's not what I'm talking about. It's a resource that they cannot exploit without further infrastructure, such as refineries. Simple manual labor is a good one. Africans can compete in that market and win. Currently they would be happy with surviving. In some of the more temperate and secure areas one could have Africans assemble items that are currently done by some Asian countries. This frees up the Asians to step up to the next rung on their economic ladder, and encourages others to do likewise.
These positions don't require heavy amounts of education. They do, admittedly, require access (such as roads) to the business at hand... but I think all of these countries have at least one city. Presto!
I'm not sure that sending them food really helps them, in the long run... as a people. But I also don't believe that ANY trade that isn't forced (command) is unfair, so there you are.
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