Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?

Capitalism Magazine ^ | 11/18/01 | Larry Elder

[Jean S]

"Muslims love to live in the U.S. but also love to hate it. Many openly claim that the U.S. is a terrorist state but they continue to live in it. Their decision to live here is testimony that they would rather live here than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for sure that nowhere on earth, including India, will I get the same sense of dignity and respect that I have received in the U.S."

Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?
By Larry Elder (November 18, 2001)

[CAPITALISMMAGAZINE.COM] "I don't have the knowledge to blame a government," said Bakhtiar Khan, an Afghan man in his mid-twenties. "I don't know about politics, but for our problems I blame the world community. All humans should be equal, but we are not. You ask me who is to blame. You find out who is to blame."

Khan, according to a recent New York Times piece on the origins of Islamic extremism, earns a subsistence level income making bricks in a pit outside the city of Peshawar, an Afghan city of 2 million, nearly 50 percent refugees. When asked about his life, he says, "Life is cruel. You can see for yourself. You wear nice clothes and are healthy. But look at us. We have no clothes to wear and we are not healthy. Your question is amazing."

So, who is to blame?

A recent story on Afghan schools described a teacher who holds up a wealth pie chart. America, she shows her students, controls this huge slice of the pie, leaving a tiny sliver for us Afghans. The not-so-subtle point? Afghans suffer poverty because of America's disproportionate wealth.

But no, Khan lacks the "knowledge to blame a government." For, through knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt, dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the Arab world, spreads this message?

Dr. Muqtedar Khan, director of International Studies at Adrian College in Michigan, challenges American Muslims to set the masses straight: "While we loudly and consistently condemn Israel for its ill treatment of Palestinians, we are silent when Muslim regimes abuse the rights of Muslims and slaughter thousands of them. Remember Saddam and his use of chemical weapons against Muslims (Kurds)? Remember Pakistani army's excesses against Muslims (Bengalis)? Remember the Mujahideen of Afghanistan and their mutual slaughter? Have we ever condemned them for their excesses? Have we demanded international intervention or retribution against them? Do you know how the Saudis treat their minority Shiis? Have we protested the violation of their rights? But we all are eager to condemn Israel; not because we care for rights and lives of the Palestinians, we don't. We condemn Israel because we hate 'them.'

"Muslims love to live in the U.S. but also love to hate it. Many openly claim that the U.S. is a terrorist state but they continue to live in it. Their decision to live here is testimony that they would rather live here than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for sure that nowhere on earth, including India, will I get the same sense of dignity and respect that I have received in the U.S. No Muslim country will treat me as well as the U.S. has. If what happened on Sept. 11 had happened in India, the biggest democracy, thousands of Muslims would have been slaughtered in riots on mere suspicion and there would be another slaughter after confirmation. But in the U.S., bigotry and xenophobia has been kept in check by media and leaders ...

"It is time that we acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S. are more desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim World. If you disagree, then prove it by packing your bags and going to whichever Muslim country you identify with. If you do not leave and do not acknowledge that you would rather live here than anywhere else, know that you are being hypocritical.

"It is time that we faced these hypocritical practices and struggled to transcend them. It is time that American Muslim leaders fought to purify their own lot."

But only a few weeks ago, Arab leaders condemned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for calling Western civilization "superior" because it "guarantees respect for human rights and religion." Harsh criticism forced him to recant his "racist" statement. But if we call Berlusconi's remarks "racist," in what category do we place the statement made by Abdulrahman Awadi, formerly a high-ranking official in Kuwait? When Kuwait learned that Sulaiman abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti citizen, had become a top lieutenant with Osama bin Laden, Kuwait revoked abu Ghaith's citizenship. Awadi said, "This is a wake-up call that we have to be very careful with freedom. Democracy and freedom of choice may be good for Western cultures, but for the Gulf countries, those are dangerous things. These people are using freedom to achieve their ends."

Who is to blame?

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt suffer double-digit unemployment rates, estimated as high as 25 percent. Grinding poverty and religious zealotry, wrapped around a blanket of government-led scapegoating of Israel, the United States and the West -- all combine to form a dangerous and deadly Third World victicrat mindset. Blame triumphs over enlightenment, and anger defeats reason.

CREATORS SYNDICATE COPYRIGHT 2001 LAURENCE A. ELDER

 

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Simply handing over money with no accountability doesn't work. We know that.

REAL HELP FOR POOR NATIONS

We've given billions to poor nations over the decades. This is the result for non-perfomance based loans from the World Bank:

Experienced little or no economic improvement. Of the 85 countries receiving IDA loans between 1980 and 1999, 33 experienced negative compound growth in inflation-adjusted per capita GDP (their people became poorer); 20 countries experienced between zero and 1.5 percent growth (their people experienced marginal increases in wealth); and 28 countries experienced growth greater than 1.5 percent. 7 The data clearly show that nearly two-thirds of IDA borrowers in the past 20 years derived little or no benefit in terms of per capita wealth. In fact, recipients are more likely to be worse off after the loans than they are to experience significant economic growth.

[speekinout]

A recent story on Afghan schools described a teacher who holds up a wealth pie chart. America, she shows her students, controls this huge slice of the pie, leaving a tiny sliver for us Afghans. The not-so-subtle point? Afghans suffer poverty because of America's disproportionate wealth.

That lesson is being taught in US schools as well. It's the Liberal chant that the only way that the "have nots" can get wealth is to take it away from those who have it. Until we show these people that the "wealth pie" grows ever larger, and they can make the growth in their own share without taking it away from others, the struggle will be constant.
It's so simple to make the case that collective wealth is continually growing that the only explanation for why this kind of thinking continues is political bias. And the shameful effect is to rob the "have nots" of hope and a future.

[Winged Elf]

The Arabs had control of the area that is now Israel for well over a thousand years and they did absolutely nothing with it. In a time period of under one century, the Jews living in Israel developed the place up, and it's no surprise that the Arabs want Israel back. Arab World Poverty? It's their fault they don't have the motivation to develop. They'd rather plunder what others have developed than do the hard work on their own.

[Winged Elf]

I hold up a pie chart: Amount of "Work" done to attain such wealth. It looks exactly the same as the "Wealth" pie chart the teacher holds up. I rest my case.

[speekinout]

I hold up a pie chart: Amount of "Work" done to attain such wealth. It looks exactly the same as the "Wealth" pie chart the teacher holds up. I rest my case.

Ah, yes. You know it and I know it. But who is going to tell it to the children and the "have nots"?

[freeforall]

I think you misunderstood why I pointed out this article.Fisrt I do care IMHO every person deserves freedom as defined by this quote. "For, through knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt, dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the Arab world, spreads this " The point was that certain segments of the world blame the west for all that is wrong in the world. ". Blame triumphs over enlightenment, and anger defeats reason." The concept of freedom is universal and is for all.

[Jaidyn]

We, who choose to work, earn everything on our own. We ask for very little from the government but give a lot of our checks for them to spread about the world. We are saps for sob stories and are eager to open our wallets to help someone in distress. Too many times, though, our money doesn't go beyond the leaders of those governments. Many of their people don't even know we are sending money to help them. They buy food for today instead of seeds for tomorrow. Bin Laden hates our wealth and instead of helping Muslims he turned his money into guns to destroy our economic structure. When we go down, the entire world will will have already fallen. When we have a recession, they have a depression. Their leaders recognize this but will not cede it to their people lest they lose their own assets.

[Jorge]

A recent story on Afghan schools described a teacher who holds up a wealth pie chart. America, she shows her students, controls this huge slice of the pie, leaving a tiny sliver for us Afghans.

Does this mean if I eat an extra helping of dinner tonight, that the American hunger relief packages dropped on Afghanistan will have less food in them?

Perhaps if they starve that teacher I will get to eat all I want.

[a_Turk]

Well, I just assumed speak my mind. Thanks for the ping.

[kempo]

Instead of trying to create their own wealth , and they can if they really had the desire (didn't we), they would rather spend their time burning home-made U.S. flags, burning dummies on the end of a stick, and throwing rocks at who ever disagrees with them.

[Feckless]

At the airport near Sharm El Sheik there are panoramic view photos lining the walls above the windows. Each picture shows a view of the scene outside it's corresponding window of when the Israelis turned the Sinai back over to Egypt.

The photos show orchards, grass, paved roads, an oasis in a brutal desert. Today the windows show a brutal desert.

Like many of our minorities that have been "held down" by the Anglo-European white man, the Egyptians were handed paradise but failed to invest their own labor to maintain it.... only to complain that they have been robbed.

[IceGirl2]

The difference is that we work!

If you gave Afghanistan to Germans or Japanese or Finns or Americans or Israelis in 10 years you would have a beautiful country. Irrigation systems would be up and running, fields of hardy wheat would be swaying in the wind, factories would be turning out toys and electronic goods. Hospitals would be built and staffed. They would be efficient and clean. Roads would be built and fast food restaurants would be popular.

With ten years of hard work it could be done.

But it will never be done as long as these people continue to enjoy living in this squalor and with this ugly religion. There is no hope for them.

[freeforall]

I would disagree it is not that we "work" it is that we are free to work.None of these countries has anything like many in West and most esp america. " For, through knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt, dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the Arab world, spreads this message?" They must above all have freedom and get rid of the losers who run those countries.

[mercy]

There is no mystery to the poverty of the Third World. It is their cultures that enslave them. The wealthy of the Third World do not invest in their own countries. Why? Because they enjoy their princely status. They do not wish for a prosperous nation. They wish to look out on an impoverished land and thus feel even more special and princely. It is THAT simple. Mexico could be an economic powerhouse. They have everything needed and more. They have us right on their border to help them. But the rich of Mexico put their money in foreign investments. The only Third World nation that is changing is China. They are plowing every dollar not spent on defense into infrastructure. Maybe someday the rulers of the third world will grow tired of repressing their own people for their own satisfaction but I doubt it.

[GOPJ]

You're right, but how do you change the culture?

"It is their cultures that enslave them."

[freeforall]

bump

[timestax]

No science, no arts, no system of education, no system of law, no knowledge of medicine, no agriculture, no industry, no social organization, no government that does not come from the barrel of a gun. No work ethic, no self-discipline. no pride. No nourishment of the soul, no common sense, no ability to reason. Not even a sense of humor. A filthy, barren, impoverished society that can only blame others for its woes and refuses to accept any responsibility for its own destiny. Regressive savages. 17 posted on 11/18/01 3:01 PM Pacific by Guillam [ Post Reply

DITTO, you said it just right!!!!!!!

[timestax]

No science, no arts, no system of education, no system of law, no knowledge of medicine, no agriculture, no industry, no social organization, no government that does not come from the barrel of a gun. No work ethic, no self-discipline. no pride. No nourishment of the soul, no common sense, no ability to reason. Not even a sense of humor. A filthy, barren, impoverished society that can only blame others for its woes and refuses to accept any responsibility for its own destiny. Regressive savages. 17 posted on 11/18/01 3:01 PM Pacific by Guillam [ Post Reply

DITTO, you said it just right!!!!!!!

[timestax]

No science, no arts, no system of education, no system of law, no knowledge of medicine, no agriculture, no industry, no social organization, no government that does not come from the barrel of a gun. No work ethic, no self-discipline. no pride. No nourishment of the soul, no common sense, no ability to reason. Not even a sense of humor. A filthy, barren, impoverished society that can only blame others for its woes and refuses to accept any responsibility for its own destiny. Regressive savages. 17 posted on 11/18/01 3:01 PM Pacific by Guillam [ Post Reply

DITTO, you said it just right!!!!!!!

[timestax]

bump