For many reasons, I've avoided commenting on this article in this blog. I wrote two previous entries about it, only to delete them before posting (hence, the title of this post). Third-world development is as much a moral problem as it is an economic problem. Any discussion (or criticism) of these issues can put one in a precarious position. The struggle lies in how to present uncomfortable ideas to a very comfortable society. Societies tend to have varying levels of contempt for uncomfortable ideas, usually because they implicate the comfortable ones as part of the problem. This article, to say the least, is very discomforting. Diamond turns prevailing development theories on their heads, calling political and non-governmental development campaigns (even you, MDG's!) a "cruel hoax". They create a delusion that one day the poor and starving of the third-world can "live like us". It is a dream held by the most abject and despairing - a dream that becomes grander and more intangible with every new Ipod or cell phone that comes out.
Diamond gives some recommendations of how to avoid this future. I'm not too optimistic (I get more and more cynical everyday...somebody help me). Right now, the only solution that is apparent is to cut the consumption rates of the developed world (a very uncomfortable proposition!).
Read the article. Tell me what you think (Nick and I don't have to be the only people to comment on these things)
Sean
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