<<One of most evident problems is the lack of economic development in these societies, resulting in labor intensive industry and large family units.>>
This is the catch-22 of the third world, especially Africa. Africa is a developmental nightmare. The legacy of colonial Africa has produced a vicious circle of debt and poverty. In order to develop their nations, massive infrastructure programs must be undertaken, which requires money. They borrow. To pay off the debts, they must raise the tax base and increase exports. To raise the tax base, traditional people are forced into cash cropping settlements, resulting in population explosion. The production of the country in the form of cash crops, for instance, are sold off to raise cash. In the meantime, labor is being expended to produce exportable goods instead of subsistence goods, which generally means that third world countries actually buy their food from abroad while exporting food goods. The population explosion resulting from sedentary lifestyles puts furthur strains on the food supply, requiring more imports, which means more money going out of the country. This is why most left leaning individuals of the unsavory sort insist that the West "exploits" the third world. In reality, they cause their own problems quite without meaning to. It is probably safe to say that most of Africa, for instance, is not fit for modernizing to begin with. It probably would have been better to leave the natives to the ways which have evolved over the past 50,000 years to cope with that environment. It really is a mess, and I dont think there is an easy solution. Least of all merely enforcing birth control where it is inappropriate and will doom these poor saps either way to starvation. |
