I was reading about Sierra Leone - 20+ years of civil war really took its toll. The new ruler is trying his best - but he even said that he is not fully capable to rule, and that at the local level it is really bad. Most are short-sighted, egocentric and without morals. (So yes - like a five year old that swipes the candy from his classmate.)
Sierra Leone has all those diamond mines - they are trying to set things up so the government has more control of the mines and can manage (and tax) them - but that’s tough when everybody is so corrupt. And folks think these countries are so lousy because they are “poor”, and we need to help them with food and clothing.
What they need is help with education and leadership skills. I know private church groups and stuff have done wonders in some areas.
What they need is a decent government that governs fairly and honestly as well as enforces contract law and criminal law with no favoritism. What they need is for people to not be so fatalistic and seek to improve their circumstance to the best of their abilities. The two are synergistic. But, it’s all so intrenched and habitual that I don’t know if they can pull out of it on their own. Call me a colonialist, call me a racist, I don’t care anymore. I don’t wish those people ill and I don’t want to take advantage of them. I just want to see them in a self-sustaining productive state and not a pitiful mess as they have been for practically my entire life.