locdog, Joshua Claybourn, and Susan b. all weigh in on the superiority of Western Culture. I can only add one little thought:
If colonialism is the cause of third world poverty, then why is the US so rich today? After all, we were a colony too, about the same time as many other countries were. The cause of third world poverty is obviously something other than colonialism by itself -- I'd say bad government and bad economic systems, by the very governments in control of the poorest countries.
The Heritage Foundation releases, each year, an index of Economic Freedom. It shows that the strongest indicator of economic prosperity is the degree of liberty the citizens of that country have.
Today, in The Corner, a famous liberal economist, Friedrich Hayek, is quoted as saying that you can have an egalitarian society, but only at the lowest possible level.
Hayek wrote his famous book The Road to Serfdom as a warning to Britain (and America) to avoid going down the path to Socialism as Germany (yes-Germany) did earlier.
Hayek's definition of the word "liberal" is not the same as the one commonly used in conversation today. The word liberal in the classical sense refers to the recognition of "liberal" individual rights, most notably the right of the individual to make economic decisions in their own self-interest without excessive government interference.
joelfuhrmann:
You asked why is the US rich, when it too was a colony. The answer to this is that there are several types of colony. Countries sch as the US and Australia were 'settler' colonies. That is, the invaders greatly outnumbered the indigenous people (and still do).
Other countries are poor because the settlers stayed for a while, encouraged cash economies, forced the locals to become dependant on imports from Europe, and then left. The indigenous people were no longer able to properly support themselves because they had been actively discouraged from doing so, in order to create a market for the colonisers products.
So, colonialism has had devastating after-effects. Also, can the US be counted as post-colonial? I don't really think so. I don't know about the Native Americans, but in Australia the Aborigines live in poverty, despite the wealth of the nation. They dwell in the 'fourth world'. Is it the same in the US?
Posted by: Jess at September 21, 2003 11:17 PM