Stop giving money to the governments of poor African countries
If you really want to make a difference, you need to take this seriously
This post is inspired by Erin Quinlan who challenged me a while back to write about the impact of charity schemes in the underdeveloped world. I know the world organization calls them ‘developing’ rather than ‘underdeveloped’ but that just adds to the problem. Most of them (if not all of them) are deteriorating faster than they are developing. And perhaps they feel the best way to approach their situation is to close their eyes to the decay and focus on the growth (which is not significant). I’ll try to get to the point as quickly and simply as possible. By the way, I am not writing as a distant observer. I know these communities, I have lived there, so if you want to doubt I wonder what will be your reason.
Quite recently, I heard of an idea floating around on a couple of platforms about a universal basic income. The idea states that everybody should be given a basic income like that to erase inequality and lift the world out of poverty. When I hear things like that, I wonder if those who come up with them have been in areas of poverty before. It is one thing to see people suffering on TV, it’s another thing to be right there in their community. It is one thing to visit poor communities as a journalist or tourist born and (/or) bred in a western society, it is another thing to live in those communities and observe their natural lives. Poverty is a mindset. No amount of money can cure it! Is that so difficult to understand?
The solution to poverty is (first) education. This is not the usual school education. School education is dead especially in third world countries. I know a country that pumps out graduates by the millions and have no reasonable job market. In the USA for example, there are lots of educational platforms, trainings, conferences, classes, organized by private individuals (and companies) to help other individuals to get a grip of certain knowledge or skill that’ll help them navigate into the life they want. I have heard lots of stories of successful people whose life (especially, financial life) took a drastic turn after attending an event, conference, training, etc. For some it began by reading a book where someone pours out…
