Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

A good framing of the big picture. But like all reformist leftists, no class analysis, no alternative such as nationalising the key sectors of the economy, genuine democracy and transforming the structure of capitalism for the benefits of the majority and the needs of humanity and nature by doing away of the profit motive. May be given the rise of the far right, racism, xenophobia, etc no radical solutions could be envisioned. Only modest ones (!) "In a horrific mind-warp, advanced eonomies suddenly find themselves facing the kinds of dilemma habitually faced by poor countries. We don’t have the tools. In the poor world, the everyday result is that children are stunted and families are impoverished. Millions die for lack of treatment. Covid-19 has delivered a taste of that to the rich world. Whereas one can reasonably say that giant structures such as capitalism and geopolitics stand in the way of addressing the climate crisis, the same is not true of Covid-19. The  cost of v...

The causes are the "ongoing plunder of poor countries by rich countries, banks, multinational corporations, and global elites in the North and South." Again, this approach ignores the class structure in the poor and middle income countries, the socio-economic policies of the ruling elites (only mentioned in passing) and the role of the dominant classes in perpetuating the plunder, the lack of the political will to embark on economic and technological development, etc. Such an approach treats relations between states as separate from the sociology of the countries in question. The author of the article has a PhD in sociology! One or two more paragraphs would enlarge the picture and provide a better expalnation.  "The Global South" must be freed of its debt servitude

Leave it to the market

The world's biggest gated community

Hickel goes against the grain, but wants to correct and better manage capitalism with modest solutions. Yet I think the book is worth reading. The Divide:  A brief guide to global inequality and its solutions

Theresa May in Africa "Aid" is a con. It is partly to mask the criminal role of the City of London in capital flight and as a route to tax havens In figures: "In 2012, the last year of recorded data, developing countries received a total of $1.3tn, including all aid, investment, and income from abroad. But that same year some $3.3tn flowed out of them. In other words, developing countries sent $2tn more to the rest of the world than they received. If we look at all years since 1980, these net outflows add up to an eye-popping total of $16.3tn – that’s how much money has been drained out of the global south over the past few decades. To get a sense for the scale of this, $16.3tn is roughly the GDP of the United States. for every $1 of aid that developing countries receive, they lose $24 in net outflows." How poor countries develop rich countries Or aid in reverse I add the following mechanisms: Uneven and combined development serves the imperialist st...

"Since 1988 each debt relief scheme for the poorest countries results in another, always too late and always ill-adapted. It must not be forgotten that debt is much mroe than finnancial mechanism: it is a powerful instrument of dimination that for decades has allowed the leaders and big business of rich countries, with the complicity of the South's ruling class, to impose an economic model that serves their interests." Toussaint and Millet, Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank , 2010

"Aid in reverse: how poor countries develop rich countries" A good article. Useful data. In his 2013 book Globalisation in Africa Daniel Offiong mentioned that in every $1 that goes into Africa $10 leave the country. I don't think the author's suggestions as a solution would work though. It is because the motive force of the capitalist system (led by corporations and especially Western governments and international instituions) is ignored. Corporations seek profit even if that happens at the account of people and the earth. A high enough rate of profit makes the system greased. Otherwise stagnation or crisis takes place. One should add of course the context of neocolonialism and the way it operates in making other countries dependent. The author, or probably the Guardian editor, has not used the appropriate terms to describe the situation: capitalism, imperialism (through institutions or violence), and neocolonialism, support of the status quo, including supporti...