There's a story about philanthropy in Africa that I often think about. Mosquito nets were given to a village to help them deal with diseases borne by mosquitoes. But then the local fish population dropped rapidly. This was a huge problem, as fish was a large part of their diet.
-
-
one of the reasons why the experts and African farmers themselves have asked for highly effective pesticides as aid--they can't really be used for anything except boosting agricultural yields ofc the State Department won't allow it bc they're "too toxic"
-
Would do the same thing anyway - boosts yields for a year, he blows all the cash playing the big man in African fashion then can't afford it next year and the insects get a nice selective bump to be immune to the pesticides. At least fertilizer doesn't have the second part.
- Show replies
New conversation -
-
-
Yeah, I've heard that story too, but at least he probably bought something nice with the money. In the one I posted, they actually made things worse. But the common theme to both of these stories is that most Western philanthropists are completely out of their depth in Africa.
-
Unless you understand the reasons for African poverty (low African IQ, complete lack of future time orientation) the solutions they come up with will all fail. On the bright side, if every solution fails you can do good by helping *forever*.
- Show replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.