4 ms·

I'm impressed this article basically explains why do I live in a poor country. I live in Ecuador (South America). Our land is packed with high-quality oil, vir

by eraad 17y ago

I'm impressed this article basically explains why do I live in a poor country. I live in Ecuador (South America). Our land is packed with high-quality oil, virtually unlimited food and impressive biodiversity (google "yasuni"). Although our country looks perfect, 15% of us live in extreme poverty (this means living out of less than 2 bucks a day). The other 60% is mid-low class with less than $1000 of annual income. The only explanation I have is that our presidents had not been doing their homework. Corruption, organized crime, economic crime, you name it.

zzleeper 17y ago
But then, how do poor countries end up getting day after day such lousy governments? Is the people/society a factor in that? (after all, they DO vote, at least in Ecuador)
- dschobel 17y ago
  Some poor countries are able to bootstrap themselves out of it though. The article cites China, Taiwan, South Korea, Botswana, Chile, India, Mauritius, and Singapore as countries which historically were chronically poor and now are some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
  - eru 17y ago
    And they all share relatively competent and honest government (to some extent) nowadays. Europe also picked itself up quite well after the second World War, perhaps because people there knew how to run a country with some efficiency?
- eraad 17y ago
  Yes, society/culture are an important factor I guess. People do vote for the wrong presidents. The law allows them to promise a lot of things during campaign although there is not a strong control, audit system in place. Historically the congress majority is controlled by the president's party. It gets very complicated if we keep looking into the problem. The conclusion is that we may be indeed partly guilty for it.
- rubinelli 17y ago
  Most of Latin American countries are democracy, but until relatively recently, they were run by right-wing dictatorships. Generally speaking, their institutions are still recovering, the legislative branch is discredited, and the executive still concentrates an awful lot of power, making it very easy to slip back into caudillismo.
- gcb 17y ago
  you vote and got bush :) now seriously, at least here in Brazil, the trick is that vote is mandatory. So everyone must vote. and everyone ends up voting uninformed. so, the most money you put on the campaign the most votes you get. And everyone is too busy getting to theirs lives to note that it's already institutionalized. My wife just returned from her driving license exam. the only people approved was the ones that gave the country-standard US$150 bribe to the examiner. She failed the 1st attempt, obviously. When you don't pay you pass on the 2nd or 3rd. which ends up being a little more then the bribe wasted on gov fees and a lot more hassle.

by eraad 17y ago

zzleeper 17y ago

But then, how do poor countries end up getting day after day such lousy governments? Is the people/society a factor in that? (after all, they DO vote, at least in Ecuador)

dschobel 17y ago
Some poor countries are able to bootstrap themselves out of it though. The article cites China, Taiwan, South Korea, Botswana, Chile, India, Mauritius, and Singapore as countries which historically were chronically poor and now are some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
- eru 17y ago
  And they all share relatively competent and honest government (to some extent) nowadays. Europe also picked itself up quite well after the second World War, perhaps because people there knew how to run a country with some efficiency?
eraad 17y ago
Yes, society/culture are an important factor I guess. People do vote for the wrong presidents. The law allows them to promise a lot of things during campaign although there is not a strong control, audit system in place. Historically the congress majority is controlled by the president's party. It gets very complicated if we keep looking into the problem. The conclusion is that we may be indeed partly guilty for it.
rubinelli 17y ago
Most of Latin American countries are democracy, but until relatively recently, they were run by right-wing dictatorships. Generally speaking, their institutions are still recovering, the legislative branch is discredited, and the executive still concentrates an awful lot of power, making it very easy to slip back into caudillismo.
gcb 17y ago
you vote and got bush :) now seriously, at least here in Brazil, the trick is that vote is mandatory. So everyone must vote. and everyone ends up voting uninformed. so, the most money you put on the campaign the most votes you get. And everyone is too busy getting to theirs lives to note that it's already institutionalized. My wife just returned from her driving license exam. the only people approved was the ones that gave the country-standard US$150 bribe to the examiner. She failed the 1st attempt, obviously. When you don't pay you pass on the 2nd or 3rd. which ends up being a little more then the bribe wasted on gov fees and a lot more hassle.