Yes, I left the "ask the people" stuff off my post, because people in the third world have a skewed image of what industralization and "modernity" imply. What they're exposed to in the media is the "magic" outcome of that process...without understanding what that process implies. So, health, education, and a full stomach first; then a clear understanding of what different degrees of industrialization bring with it...then a democratic decision about what to do next...then, more democratic decisions about whether it's worth it.
Joanna
Doug Henwood wrote:
Devine, James wrote:
Doug asks:
I'm curious what PEN-Lers think a socialist or other variety of "progressive" government should do in a mostly poor, rural, peasant society. Promote education and industrialization? Wouldn't that undermine the economic and social bases of existing life?
as Bill says, consult the people.
Well of course. But if we're seriously worried about mass poverty in the "Third World" - the 2 billion living on <$2/day by the World Bank definition & count - then that means raising productivity and incomes. Raising productivity and incomes means education, technological development, and the disturbance of existing social structures. Saying "consult the people" can be a way of dodging the difficulties of that.
Doug
