Fireign Blog

Worldwide extreme poverty is one of the premiere crises of our times. One flawed and harmful way to bring developing countries out of poverty has been the international lending programs by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. Left devastated after years of conflict, exploitation by imperialism, and corruption, many developing countries were left with no option but to turn to these organizations to borrow money in order to foster economic growth and prosperity of their people or these loans were used to prop up military regimes for political reasons during the Cold War (and then the money was wasted, for the most part.) However, with these loans come unreasonable restrictions and policies that benefit the rich countries of the world (the G-7 countries hold approximately 50% stake in each organization.) Developing countries are forced to open up their borders by eliminating import tariffs, thus developed countries have flooded the market with cheap goods that are unusable in the rich country (like ‘chicken backs’) or surplus farm supplies that would otherwise go to waste. Now, local farmers cannot sell their goods in their own country. The loan conditions (of which there are an average of 67 per loan) also open up the borders for the exporting of cheap raw materials and labor. These developing countries have been left with lower wages and more poverty than before they took the loans.

How is a country supposed to advance when they have to spend 3 to 4 times as much money on repayment of debt interest to rich countries as they do on their own health care system? These countries are left in a cycle where they cannot afford to pay back the original loan, and thus cannot put tariffs on the raw goods extracted from their country, so they cannot make enough money to pay back the loans. This is economic imperialism and NEEDS to stop.

Cynics might say that if you eliminate debt, the money earned might just be embezzled by corrupt politicians. Firstly, there are a number of case studies of countries who have drastically increased their health care and education services after minimal or total debt relief. Secondly, people need to pay attention to (and make their government’s pay attention to) and not allow the corruption, it is well-documented, however ‘western’ governments tend to ignore the issue because they benefit from instability in the region (cheap materials, labor, diamonds, etc.)

There are a number of things that you can do. First, educate yourself on the issue: Click here or here. Lobby your politicians to work for debt relief.

As with all posts on this blog, please DON’T take me at my word. Educate yourself and challenge my assumptions and conclusions (or agree with me.) This is a safe space for free thinkers. Join in the discussion below!

Tags: Cheap Raw Materials, Chicken Backs, Corrupt Politicians, Countries Of The World, Crises, Cynics, Debt Interest, Developing Countries, Economic Growth, Economic Imperialism, Education Services, Enough Money, Extreme Poverty, Health Care System, Imf International Monetary Fund, Import Tariffs, International Debt Relief, International Monetary Fund, Loan Conditions, Military Regimes, Own Health Care, Prosperity, Raw Goods, Rich Countries, Unreasonable Restrictions