Sunday, November 30, 2014

Olivia Barr, Chapter 13, Q.7

     While reading this chapter I was astonished by the number of complex issues aside from poverty itself that keep poor countries from economic development, and ultimately escaping the grips of widespread poverty. Things as seemingly insignificant as not granting property rights can serve as a major hindrance to economic development. Some of the most prominent factors of widespread and prolonged poverty is lack of human capital, infrastructure, and economic activity, but it is unfair to blame "laze" citizens for these things because if they are forced to spend large amounts of time protecting property that is only nominally theirs, they can not be expected to get a formal education that would enable them to get a good job and contribute to the economy, or even create low cost methods for developing infrastructure within the weak economy of their country that could arguably light the path to economic development.
     It was also very shocking to me to read that poor economies foster political and social unrest. That is not something that I had not known before reading this chapter, but I hadn't fully realized the importance of that fact. While living in one of the most stable countries in the world, both socially and economically, we are a target for groups who are radically disheartened by the conditions within their own countries, so as a result the United States Army sends troops and drones to combat these issues; maybe a better response to fighting terror groups is to identify the issues that contribute to poor economic circumstances in their countries of origin, and provide guidance in eradicating them before they become extreme enough to foster radicalism rather than giving the countries more reason to dislike the US by sending troops into their land.

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