

Development Aid Achieves the Opposite of Its Goals - all
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,719401,00.html

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Mz
Excerpt:

 _For decades, it has been obvious that development aid as a rule achieves
exactly the opposite of that which is desired. Hundreds of economists,
disillusioned aid workers and experts in recipient countries have discussed in
books and essays the senselessness of the well-intentioned undertaking._

Makes sense to me. Maybe some day I will be able to put it into words...or
something. For me, getting well has been deeply rooted in rejecting the
"please save me" mentality common among people who are extremely ill. (Feeling
a bit hypocritical as I say that since just earlier today I was saying "I
don't think I am 'asking' for much (from the universe/'god'/karma/whatever).
$100,000 would resolve my financial problems and people with my condition
routinely get way more spent on them for staying sick.")

I've spent much of my life pondering how to improve things without stepping in
that psychological/social trap. It's not easy. In most cases, programs
designed to resolve problems (or "help", more often than not) offer assistance
in a manner which actively rewards people for having problems and grievously
punishes them for making any real progress.

