Why Does Poverty Have A Dark Face? (conclusion)

OK, whatever, my people. Let me say that this has become a biannual blog affair. Yep, judging from the fact that the last entry was almost six months ago, what other designation would I give it? Well, biannual it is until something changes. Yeah, that's right. Something might just change and turn this into a daily web log; yeah, right!

Having beaten myself up enough, I would just want to complete this article that I started a while ago - Why Does Poverty Have A Dark Face? Yes, why does it, really? Wouldn't you think that since poverty was a human problem that it would affect all races of the world equally? Hmmmm...it doesn't appear that this is the case. I'm not advocating there be a reversal of fate; where a certain group would become hard hit in any way. I have noticed that many of the world's "poor" were usually dark-skinned. Poverty here refers to the absence of economic stability and resources.

I have tried to discuss some of the internal factors that necessitate poverty in my last blog entry. Here, I would like to deliberate a few of the external causes of poverty and perhaps proffer what I term "external solutions" as well.

• Globalization: The world is gradually becoming a global village. I make calls to Nigeria almost on a weekly (if not daily, shame on my addiction, lol) basis. I long to keep myself abreast of what's going on there while living thousands of miles away in the United States. While globalization can be making distance between friends and family shorter via information and communication technologies (ICTs), it might be increasing the gap between the wealthy North and the struggling South of the world. What I mean is that technologies are being transferred from many industrialized nations of the world to the developing nations without reciprocity. The Global South doesn't have what the North needs; or there's pretense on the part of the latter that it doesn't need any useful products from the former. My point here is that globalization, while having the potential to create jobs in the South is not being well harnessed and appears to be largely one-sided interaction, in my view. I do not mean in saying this that the South has gained nothing from interacting with the technologically developed nations. My emphasis is that the gap is too wide for it to be considered a good thing. However, the onus is of course on the developing countries to try to catch up with the economically advanced nations. There may be many merits to globalization - but we shouldn't forget to ask, Is it fair and equitable to all?
• Adverse terms of trade: Coming on the heels of the effects of globalization on the global poor is also the problem of adverse terms of trade, which doesn't often represent the interest of poor nations. Who controls the terms on which nations exchange goods and services? What standards are used in regulating these business interactions? It is when we fully understand the ask these pertinent questions and seek out solutions to them, that we might begin to accept our own solutions to our unique problems.
•  Brain drain: It's not uncommon to find many families in Africa where at least one relative lives abroad, especially in a developed country. The need and quest for 'the golden fleece' or greener pastures have led to cross migration across the continents. In many places, it's usually a movement from the global south to the global north, otherwise called the West. Many young students move abroad to start college for various reasons peculiar to many developing countries. In Africa, political instability, poverty, unstable educational policies, shortage of trained and regulated teachers, etc, are some of the reasons given for the migration of young 'brains' in Africa to countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. This is also the case in some South American countries including Brazil, Chile, Argentina, etc. Many people have also moved away for work, especially when their careers require sophisticated technologies and know-how, making it easy for them to develop professionally.
• Foreign policies: It's said the he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Many poor nations depend on the magnanimity of richer nations for foreign aid, which includes outright grants, loans and trade deals. It's not uncommon to find that these policies come with unfavorable conditions that impact many aspects of the people's lives and economy. However, in the bid to secure much needed aid (when they are channeled to the appropriate quarters), government officials and indeed those in the non profit or non governmental sector of the population are often eager to do everything within their means to give relief to their people.

Now, thinking solutions. Since this isn't a research paper, I will leave room for empirical research on these reasons, but these are the ones I consider obvious, by my experience. What do you think?

As expected of any social or political problem, the solution is unique to the people and their environment. What do you consider the solutions to these problems? I think the solutions are not a direct reversal of the problems, but a careful thinking towards home-grown and sustainable means of ending endemic poverty among people or populations with a dark face.

That's it, people! It's taken me over three years to get around to doing this! That is, 'Why Does Poverty Have A Dark Face?' series. Hmmph...*wipe a sweat*...happy survival!!

Chao!