Ah, so you admit it was the transvestites who were stealing all that copper wire in Nigeria. All becomes clear …
Will do, Debaser. Are you wearing a dress?
I think the Western nations have some role in trying to promote honets government in the 3rd world, but in most cases, this is impossible. Take Egypt-this country is allegedly a “democracy”, and is subsidized by the USA. In reality, it is a one-party state, run by a crook (Mubarek) who is president for life. Now, supporting thisguy has led to many problems for us…like the fact that the (underground) islamic opposition is fiercely anti-American. What does the USA do? If there is a revolution, the government that most likely will emerge in Egypt will be worse than the taliban. So, we go on backing this crook…and hoping that some kind of reform will emerge.
Unhappily, this is what most ofAfrica is like…even regimes that are fairley democratic (like S. Africa) are beset with so many problems (debt, AIDS, etc.) that they will most likely revert to dictatorships.
That’s the sad truth; nothing seems to be about to change it.
But of course, the bulk of the money we send to Egypt isn’t because they are a “democracy”, it is as a reward for the Camp David peace accords. We promised aid to any Arab country who made peace with Israel. Egypt was the only one who accepted.
Ralph124, a minor nitpick (which I always find amusing): many third world country are also from the west. The western civilazation isn’t just a family of rich persons. You also have poor cousins.
Many approach the issue taking only in account the problem with the external debt. Granted tha is a major problem but it’s not the whole picture.
Consider for example international comerce, in no way we can compete with first world countries. We have absolute advantages in many fields and the answer of the powerfull of this planet is protectionism. But when we run into deficit the IMF is always ready to help us.
Estilicon, Argentina competes very well in the international market. Argentine beef and wine to name but two products are commonly found here in Britain.
In the case of a loan there is more to it than just paying back the loan. There is also interest.
In the case of the third world countries, most of them have paid back the original loan figure, many times. But through accumulated interest their debth keeps growing, they just keep paying the interest.