May 26, 2006

Who to balme?

There had been a lot of talk about how the western nations have deprived the poorer nations from the latest technology and resources so that they would not become strong and capable of confronting the western nations. All the way from the African deserts to the Indian subcontinent there is a similar theme where the local resources were looted by the rich nations for there own benefit and the system was designed in a way so that these poor countries would remain poor and continue to serve as the blood line for the rich. The idea was that if they were left poor then they would be never be able to challenge the rich and powerful countries and since they will be dependent for the latest technology on the rich countries it will essentially prove to be a very good parasite-host relationship. But despite all this, the powerful west failed to foresee the terrible dangers that lay ahead. This strategy has left the other countries vulnerable from economical, political and military point of view.
About 50 years ago, this strategy might have worked just fine but not anymore. The reason being the increased effects of the globalization. Now not only it takes less time to ship the diamonds from the war torn countries of Africa but also it takes less time to ship drugs from south America to new York city. What this essentially means is that the problems in the poor countries to end up at the doorsteps of the rich countries. Let’s talk about America, it being the symbol of the western power and influence. Its biggest problem right now are terrorism, Iraq war, illegal immigration and drug trade. If the Palestinian state was allowed to prosper along with the Israel it wouldn’t have resulted in the 9/11, as it serves as the breeding grounds for the theories of terrorism that are often fed by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organization to its members. Similarly, if Saddam Hussein wasn’t supported in the first place we would have never seen the Iraq war now. If Mexico had an economy other than drugs and outsourced industries that come from U.S. it would not have resulted in the immigration issues right now in the U.S. If the U.S. wouldn't have ignored the afghan drug trade problems in the first place they would not be selling in the streets of Los Angeles right now.
Now all this does not mean that the rich countries are responsible for all this because it is not as if these countries woke up one day and found gold flowing through the cities. Germany was completely destroyed from the war hysteria before it became a super power and Japan was also completely destroyed and similarly there was a time when the people use to line up in the streets in U.S. for free food during the great depression. None of these countries were born with a silver spoon unlike the Middle East, which did strike black gold.
The whole point is that if we have a glass house in the desert, when the wind will below it will bring some sand with it inside the house. We, the underdeveloped countries need to stop blaming the developed countries for there misery and start building ourselves instead of focusing all of our resources on unproductive venues. It is possible and every country can do it, just look at the world map and there are plenty of examples.