close
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It?
(Paul Collier, 2007)
After the party, I came back to my sweet narrow desk corner under such a dim light finishing the rest of [The Bottom Billion] (a piece of reading material required for the discussion on development and global health), a book with fascinating ideas talking about "why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it.”
I have been sort of convinced (because I think I still need some more time to rethink through each critical point that has been made) by Paul Collier, the author of the book. He poses many critiques upon the seem-to-be-forever deadlocks as well as the limbo of development that interests and inspires me a lot.
In fact, I was amazed by many of his insights and those creative solutions from him, and there is a sentence in particular that raises my awareness of myself: “poverty is not romantic.” It is so true and so real that people (probably including myself) should not simply be compassion-motivated to do something with no brain.
We are wasting money, we are cheering up for those who are not in an urgent need, and we are seeing ourselves so greatly helpful. However, the reality is that what we have done so far is not only making the bottom billion waiting for Godot but also shaming ourselves for being no clever at all.
Anyway, in some sense we are not evil, but we are just not smart enough. Nonetheless, some questions may be raised casting doubts upon Collier’s theory:
1. How can ‘saving the bottom billion’ be justified to be a global public good?
2. Why do these traps not apply to those countries which had similar situations but got developed in history? Is it because it is happening in an era of globalisation? If so, then why should globalisation still be seen as a motivation for people to pursue for or take advantage of?
3. Collier may overlook the rationale of international law, its norms and standards. The argument for the instruments, including aid, intervention, laws, and trade, sounds reasonable and inspirational, but under the existing international law, only aid may be decided resting upon one State’s own discretion, and the other 3, however, are strictly regulated.
In my opinion, I reckon on Collier’s optimistic view towards global good governance by introducing new charters or reframing the current law which are outdated, but he has still oversimplified the process of creation, as well as application, of these instruments and he did not take an unease that one State may concern with into consideration.
On the other hand, internal pressure can never be neglected either. But, this has been pre-argued by Collier in the last chapter of ‘An Agenda for Action’. Nevertheless, overall I agree with most of his ideas: awareness and changes in the way we think are important, and they can start from us. It is never too late.
(Paul Collier, 2007)
After the party, I came back to my sweet narrow desk corner under such a dim light finishing the rest of [The Bottom Billion] (a piece of reading material required for the discussion on development and global health), a book with fascinating ideas talking about "why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it.”
I have been sort of convinced (because I think I still need some more time to rethink through each critical point that has been made) by Paul Collier, the author of the book. He poses many critiques upon the seem-to-be-forever deadlocks as well as the limbo of development that interests and inspires me a lot.
In fact, I was amazed by many of his insights and those creative solutions from him, and there is a sentence in particular that raises my awareness of myself: “poverty is not romantic.” It is so true and so real that people (probably including myself) should not simply be compassion-motivated to do something with no brain.
We are wasting money, we are cheering up for those who are not in an urgent need, and we are seeing ourselves so greatly helpful. However, the reality is that what we have done so far is not only making the bottom billion waiting for Godot but also shaming ourselves for being no clever at all.
Anyway, in some sense we are not evil, but we are just not smart enough. Nonetheless, some questions may be raised casting doubts upon Collier’s theory:
1. How can ‘saving the bottom billion’ be justified to be a global public good?
2. Why do these traps not apply to those countries which had similar situations but got developed in history? Is it because it is happening in an era of globalisation? If so, then why should globalisation still be seen as a motivation for people to pursue for or take advantage of?
3. Collier may overlook the rationale of international law, its norms and standards. The argument for the instruments, including aid, intervention, laws, and trade, sounds reasonable and inspirational, but under the existing international law, only aid may be decided resting upon one State’s own discretion, and the other 3, however, are strictly regulated.
In my opinion, I reckon on Collier’s optimistic view towards global good governance by introducing new charters or reframing the current law which are outdated, but he has still oversimplified the process of creation, as well as application, of these instruments and he did not take an unease that one State may concern with into consideration.
On the other hand, internal pressure can never be neglected either. But, this has been pre-argued by Collier in the last chapter of ‘An Agenda for Action’. Nevertheless, overall I agree with most of his ideas: awareness and changes in the way we think are important, and they can start from us. It is never too late.
全站熱搜
留言列表
