[LINK] $100 laptop could sell to public

[Craig Sanders]

On Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 12:57:22PM +1100, Stewart Fist wrote:
> You'd give them transistor radios before you introduced laptops.
> You'd give them TVs before you gave them laptops.
> You'd give them bicycles before you gave them laptops.
> You'd give them electric power and water and food and roads before you gave
> them laptops.

yep. gotta agree with that.  it's ridiculous to give a laptop to someone
starving to death.

but then, it's also ridiculous to focus on the cute starving children
and completely ignore the fact that those cute children grow up to be
starving adults unable to feed themselves on the crappy marginal land
that's all that's left to them after the western-backed rich locals use
western money and guns to acquire all the viable farming land to grow
cheap cash crops for western commodities markets.

and if you were a BigPharma company, before you gave them any of useful
things you list, you'd give them out-of-date, banned, or otherwise
dangerous pharmaceuticals that they have to dispose of at great expense.
kills two birds with one stone - externalises the disposal expenses and
you can write it off on tax as a charitable donation.

foreign aid isn't always about charity or helping those who need help.
often it serves western interests (government and corporate) far more
than it serves the needs of people in the third world - in fact, quite
often it serves western corporate interests AGAINST the interests of the
locals.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>           (part time cyborg)