Aid

I saw this interview today. I found it quite interesting because I did a course on “Sustainable development” at varsity (contrary to popular belief I did attend varsity). I am a little sceptical of governmental aid, don’t get me wrong, aid is great in theory but some aid is not effective if not harmful. Here I need to make a distinction between governmental and non-governmental aid. Governmental aid is aid given by one government to another – the money goes to the government of the receiving nation to distribute, as they will. This distribution is done often to the people that support the government and can be distributed on religious, ethnic, tribal or political lines.
Non-governmental aid is done by organisations (eg World Vision and Oxfam) that are not affiliated with any government and the benefits of development go straight to the people who need the aid regardless of ethnicity, religion, tribal or political affiliation. Governmental aid is subject to limits, many governments will only be given aid when they fall in line with the political and social views of the giver nation. Although this is good in encouraging “democratic” policies in developing nations it also means that if a government does not fit in to the “democratic” worldview then their citizens do not receive the limited benefits of governmental aid (if there are any). Another disadvantage is that developing nations become dependent on aid from developed nations, to the point that they never become self-sufficient, this is beneficial to the developed nations as they (the developing nations) pose potential market competition if they ever become self-sufficient. So the developed nations attempt to keep these countries in this position of dependence. I am not bagging the motives behind the aid (although some are dubious) but rather the practice of governmental aid. Non-governmental aid on the other hand is fantastic. Organisations like Oxfam, World Vision and Trade Aid attempt to encourage micro-enterprise and self-sufficiency. Encouraging people to donate goats or piggeries (Swedish or otherwise :) ) that will actually help a family and community to become self-sufficient. Their efforts are of benefit to whole communities and I think what they are doing is wonderful and transforming communities in developing nations. To use an overused cliché analogy if I may- Governmental aid is like giving a man (or woman) a fish and non-governmental aid is teaching a man (or woman) to fish.
To explain my phraseology (Actual word) I use the term “developed” and “developing” reluctantly. Why? Because these terms are loaded with connotations of suggesting “development” (whatever that means) is some how of value in and of its self and that all countries should seek to become “developed”. The term “west” and “east” (or “north” and “south” where north=America + Europe and south= everywhere else) are misleading also. The terms “first world” and “third world” are also redundant given that the “second world” (communism) only includes a handful of nations.