On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 01:24:13PM -0600, Bob Beck wrote: > > if they want to fix third world countries they should start with the > > governments, this seems more like a marketing excercise > > Unfortunately, fixing the government while maintaining the universal > democracy that is practically insisted upon by the USA as world > uber-cop makes that a very difficult task. Democracy gets you the > government you "deserve", not the govenment that will fix your > problems, and this is natural. If the electorate is hungry and ill > educated they will vote (or help) the first and best alternative to > stop that and the hell with any long term consequences. (The same > is still true in the west just on a grander scale..) > > While the west got to get "working" "democratic" government > up and running while effectively preventing the unwashed masses from > voting, thereby giving them time to get things in place to > educate the same before allowing it. The same is typically > frowned upon in third world countries when the "you must have > democracy" stick has the carrot hung to it or is shoved up > the victim's nether regions as the case may be. Education is > the only thing that mitigates the manipulation of the electorate > by those seeking office. > > Personally, I think big chunks of Africa growing up motherless and > fatherless due to aids, war, and hunger is a hell of a lot more of a > problem than whether or not they have a laptop. You can get a perfectly > good technological education without a computer. I did. You can't > learn worth a shit if you're sick, starving, or being shot at.
Well said. It is amazing that more people don't get this. Perhaps the laptops could be shipped with a pack of vitamins, a loaf of bread, and light body armor? -Rick
