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In the times we live in, there are still enormous differences between rich and poor, developed and less developed countries. But why and who is to blame? What can one do about it? Many things have been tried to solve these problems, but have they worked? It is very weird, that we modern, intelligent people, have not yet achieved to get rid of the differences between developed countries and less developed countries. Developed countries try, every year, they grant a certain percent of their Gross National Product to foreign aid to help the less developed countries to get a better standard of living (better agriculture, more and better schools and hospitals, access to health care, medicines, etc. ).
On the other hand, are the developed countries "standard of living" the best for less developed countries, and the one that the developed countries should impose on them? For instance, what is the point of giving high tech machinery like tractors and farming equipment, which need expensive fuel and maintenance, and education to people who have none of the above and have harvested their crops by manpower for hundreds of years? We know for a fact that the money we grant is not being used effectively. The governments of the less developed countries take a lot of the money, and a great amount of the sum are not being used to the purposes they are meant for. Bribery and corruption are huge problems in developing countries.
It makes more sense for the developed countries to dig wells for people who walk for miles every day to get their daily water supply, than to support government officials who buy BMWs and own great property. The World Bank was established, and a large amount of money was poured in, despite the fact that the Third World lacked the level of infrastructure, economic and social background, and the skilled personnel that Europe and North America did have. The failure of this model of economic development to create economic well being and growth for most Third World countries is due to a few factors. These factors include the amount of economic resources in the hands of the rich and of deceiving governments, the elimination of the large majority of populations, which are affected from economic decision making, and the addition of Southern economies in an international market where they cannot compete fairly. The industrialized countries are still holding the less developed countries down. It's the developed countries that decides coffee, tea, and sugar prices, and consequently put into effect an indirect control of the countries economies.
Developed Countries also protect themselves with high import-taxes and low import-quotas. Increasing protection in the Northern markets shut off some Third World exports, while at the same time, the increased export of some natural resources, lumber from forests, for example, creates the conditions for rapid environmental destruction. At the same time, a major debt crisis develops, mainly among those countries in the South that were producing mostly for Northern markets. Recently, popular movements that included farmers, workers, women, environmentalists and, community groups in the South were challenging the adjustment policies and large-scale projects that were ruining the less Developed countries and the environment. The goal for these groups is sustainable development: building and protecting a base for long-term development by protecting the natural-resources base, sustaining local culture and traditions, and achieving economic growth by building on the ability of local populations. In Africa, there are established, with help from, among other countries, Norway, mobile doctors, who visit villages and remote places on regular basis.
There have also been a lot of schools built with foreign aid, there is no doubt that the educational system in most of the less developed countries has been improved a great deal over the past few years. These are examples of "basic human needs" programs that are run with some success because the less developed countries governments impose their own solutions on local problems. This way of cooperating with the less developed countries has proved to be the best way of "helping" the developing countries to develop in their own pace and their "Third World" way. This is what has kept the Third World countries undeveloped for such a long time that developed countries have imposed on them their development with its flaws, disrespect for nature and other cultures, and the greediness that threatens to wreck the environment as we know it.
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Research essay sample on Third World Countries Standard Of Living
