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Malawi doesn't have a functioning economy. It has a nominal GDP per capita of $464. It is heavily indebted and reliant on international aid. 80% of the populati

Malawi doesn't have a functioning economy. It has a nominal GDP per capita of $464. It is heavily indebted and reliant on international aid. 80% of the population rely on subsistence farming and 70% live on less than $1.90 per day. Giving those refugees citizenship just means more mouths to feed; if they remain as refugees, then they're the UN's problem.

trollbridge 2y ago
I will add that they are also a quite self reliant people; many of them live in areas where the government doesn’t provide much services at all (other than an occasional shakedown for a bribe). They are very good farmers. Their main opinion as I heard it expressed on foreign affairs is that they’d just like to be left alone and deal with less corruption. One of the most amazing things was craftsmen who machine parts out of ebony wood or other tropical hardwoods - and use these to keep engines running. (I remain perplexed how they handle high heat, temperature changes, etc., but it works). I have never met a people more able to keep an ancient motorbike running. Not everything gets counted in GDP… I am not sure the country would be improved if it somehow got replaced with a lifestyle of living like Europeans or Americans.
- thimkerbell 2y ago
  Where is the youtube channel for the "craftsmen who machine parts out of ebony wood or other tropical hardwoods - and use these to keep engines running"?
  - thatguy0900 2y ago
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5oTByYWBqKs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5oTByYWBqKs Project farm actually has a few videos somewhat in this vein
- unmole 2y ago
  > I am not sure the country would be improved if it somehow got replaced with a lifestyle of living like Europeans or Americans. Yeah, it's quite debatable that indoor plumbing, safe water or reliable electricity are actually good. Sure, Malawi has ten times the infant mortality rate as the EU, but is that really such a bad thing?
AStonesThrow 2y ago
My friend, since 1964 it would seem that the 80% farmers feeding their own families is an exceedingly attractive deal, and many Traditional Catholics would totally go for that lifestyle, provided that they can continue homeschooling...

trollbridge 2y ago

I will add that they are also a quite self reliant people; many of them live in areas where the government doesn’t provide much services at all (other than an occasional shakedown for a bribe). They are very good farmers. Their main opinion as I heard it expressed on foreign affairs is that they’d just like to be left alone and deal with less corruption. One of the most amazing things was craftsmen who machine parts out of ebony wood or other tropical hardwoods - and use these to keep engines running. (I remain perplexed how they handle high heat, temperature changes, etc., but it works). I have never met a people more able to keep an ancient motorbike running. Not everything gets counted in GDP… I am not sure the country would be improved if it somehow got replaced with a lifestyle of living like Europeans or Americans.

thimkerbell 2y ago
Where is the youtube channel for the "craftsmen who machine parts out of ebony wood or other tropical hardwoods - and use these to keep engines running"?
- thatguy0900 2y ago
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5oTByYWBqKs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5oTByYWBqKs Project farm actually has a few videos somewhat in this vein
unmole 2y ago
> I am not sure the country would be improved if it somehow got replaced with a lifestyle of living like Europeans or Americans. Yeah, it's quite debatable that indoor plumbing, safe water or reliable electricity are actually good. Sure, Malawi has ten times the infant mortality rate as the EU, but is that really such a bad thing?

AStonesThrow 2y ago

My friend, since 1964 it would seem that the 80% farmers feeding their own families is an exceedingly attractive deal, and many Traditional Catholics would totally go for that lifestyle, provided that they can continue homeschooling...