Rwanda's future

When advisor Malik Fal went to Rwanda, he says he found a determination to develop their own economy and improve the lives of their people (see posts December 10-13).  Much of the drive to achieve that goal comes from their president, Paul Kagame.

His essay in the book, In the River They Swim, explains his vision.

"Rwanda is a nation with high goals and a sense of purpose.  Our vision is to create prosperity for the average Rwandan citizen.  We are attempting to increase our gross domestic product (GDP) by seven times over a generation, which increases per capita incomes by almost four times.  This in turn will create the basis for further innovation, creative thinking, and a host of progressive human values:  interpersonal trust, tolerance, and civic-mindedness.  All this together will strengthen our society . . 

"In all people, you find different kinds of talents, and entrepreneurship is about harnessing those talents and making sure that it takes people to another level in their personal development . . . 

"[I]t gives people a feeling that they are valued and have meaning, that they are as capable, as competent, as gifted and as talented as anyone else. "

I wish them great success!

Impact $tudents

Chinese college students in the U.S. have become an important segment of the car business.  In the 22 months ending October 2013, this group bought over $15 billion worth of cars.

About half of them were new "with an average purchase price of $52,796; and 32 percent of buyers paid cash."

How does this compare to U.S. students?  "About 40 percent of their U.S. counterparts purchased new vehicles, with an average price of $19,472."

Dealerships around some universities now say Chinese students amount to as much as 15% of their sales, and some have hired employees who speak Mandarin and Cantonese. There are about three times the Chinese students in this country now as there were in 2003.

From: Bloomberg Businessweek.com

Massive data

Last week, December 19, I posted about the search for the Higgs Boson particle.  It was conducted at CERN ( European Council for Nuclear Research), founded in 1952 to do "world-class fundamental physics research."

It involved immense data gathering:

They used the large hadron collider to create 600,000,000 collisions among 3,000,000,000,000,000 protons every second.  Huawei supplied the data storage system to analyze 50,000,000,000,000 bytes of data.

"Merry" Christmas

We say "happy" holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc., but Merry Christmas is the greeting we use rather than Happy Christmas.  

At First Things, it is suggested that there might be a reason to be Merry rather than just Happy at Christmas.  It has to do with joyous delight in undeserved blessing:

"To certain ears, then, “Happy Christmas” conveys a sober, well-earned enjoyment, the satisfaction resulting from hard work and virtuous living. “Merry Christmas” stirs in us an impulse more primitive and unrestrained: The childlike giddiness of Christmas morning, the rush down the stairs and tearing at paper, the intemperate delight in gifts long hoped-for and wholly undeserved.

"Which phrase conveys a more fitting response to the overwhelming, unearned gift of Christ’s birth? Suffice it to say that when our Lord comes I hope I do not greet him with dignified reserve but instead rush at him with the unguarded, unembarrassed joy of a child at play or man at his cups. Merry Christmas to all!"

Agreed!  Hope your Christmas was merry!

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

1. Hark! The herald angels sing,
   “Glory to the newborn King;
   Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
   God and sinners reconciled!”
   Joyful, all ye nations rise,
   Join the triumph of the skies;
   With th’angelic host proclaim,
   “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

1. Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
   Christ the everlasting Lord;
   Late in time, behold Him come,
   Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
   Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
   Hail th’incarnate Deity,
   Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
   Jesus our Emmanuel.
2. Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
   Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
   Light and life to all He brings,
   Ris’n with healing in His wings.
   Mild He lays His glory by,
   Born that man no more may die;
   Born to raise the sons of earth,
   Born to give them second birth.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,

While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.

O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,

And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv'n;

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav'n.

No ear may his His coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

"Carol of the Drum"

The "little drummer boy" honored the newly born King with the finest thing he had, his own gifting and passion - the very thing the rest of us bring to God when we choose to line up our lives with Him.

Recommends Scrooge

Eric Metaxas, author of Bonhoeffer and Amazing Grace,  says his favorite "A Christmas Carol" movie version is the 1970 "Scrooge," starring Albert Finney. His early memories and adult insights on the movie are here.

Higgs boson

You may know that a particle called the "Higgs boson" was finally identified this year.  An atomic collider was used to "find" the mysterious cosmic particle which was only theorized to exist back in 1964.

If you want to understand its significance in general terms, there's a pretty good explanation here along with a connection to Christian theology.

“As one goes deeper and deeper into the workings of the physical world, to more fundamental levels of the laws of nature, one encounters not ever less structure and symmetry but ever more. The deeper one goes the more orderly nature looks, the more subtle and intricate its designs.” (from Modern Physics and Ancient Faith)

Mentally strong

In the experience of this licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, some people are more successful at managing their thoughts in order to act positively despite circumstances.

The people who can rise above their circumstances avoid:

• feeling sorry for themselves
• resenting others' success
• wasting energy on things they can't control

 . . and a number of other self-defeating things.

The social worker is Amy Morin, and you can read all the 13 things mentally strong people avoid here.  There's also a link to a followup article on exercises which help to develop mental strength.

The article has been unexpectedly popular with over 10,000,000 readers. Amy plans to write a book.

Youth unemployment

This article was written almost two years ago about the high unemployment rate among those under 25 in Spain.  At that time it had gone above 50% and some were thinking that to leave the country would be their only hope for a promising career.

Now, almost two years later, Spain's unemployment rate is 57.4% for those under 25 .

According to an economics professor in Madrid, "This is the generation that will be paying for the welfare state and pensions in the future. If they can't get started with relatively secure, well-paying jobs, start to put away some savings, start to accumulate assets, start paying into the welfare system, where does that leave the rest of us?"

Rwanda growing

(cont'd from In The River They Swim)

Advisor Malik Fal found that Rwandan national leaders were very determined to improve conditions for the nation's people.    Like other African countries, they have received all forms of aid - but their goal is to grow out of the need for it by creating their own wealth.

(This should sound familiar if you read about economist Dambisa Moyo in my posts a month ago, Nov. 11-14.  She's been advocating this kind of change and sees Rwanda as a good example.  "Following President Kagame’s lead, Rwanda is already obsessed with turning the “no-aid” development theory into a reality.")

One of their strategies was to focus limited resources on industries that had high potential for competitive advantage.  Coffee growers worked hard to produce a better quality product with its better revenues.  Tourism focused on primate safaris and upscale accomodations, triggering infrastructure and service upgrades.

All of this with less foreign aid.  As the World Bank reported (see "Rwanda Changing" post two days ago),  "The domestic economy remained strong despite an estimated 20 percent reduction in Official Donor Assistance (ODA) in 2012."

Rwanda advisor

Malik Fal, educated in Africa and the U.S., has worked in global industry (Pepsi-Co) and most recently as Managing Director, Omidyar Network Africa.  

He's seen big changes since growing up in Senegal, which was formerly a French colony and is now independent.  From his point of view, "Political independence without economic independence is meaningless. This is the struggle of our lifetime."   

His mission has been to help Africans create wealth through what he calls "competitiveness" which he describes as:  "the ability to produce and sell good-quality, high-margin products and services to demanding clients both at home and abroad".  Business strategy in emerging markets is his specialty.

So he became an economic advisor to the Rwandan leadership.  Of that experience he says, "I love Rwanda because modern Rwanda is a story of resilience, integrity, and hope." (page 83)

As a co-author of In the River They Swim, he writes, "Wealth creation is the only sustainable way out of poverty, and nations whose leaders do not believe this are nations in danger of remaining poor." (page 93)

Rwanda changing

Next April will be the twenty-year anniversary of something horrific, the mass murder/genocide of 800,000 people in Rwanda.  It's hard to even imagine such a thing, but a web search will turn up the details.  Under colonial rule in the mid-1900's, everyone had to identify with a group.  Extremist Hutus in 1994 located and exterminated the Tutsi and anyone sympathetic to them.

Order was eventually restored, and Rwanda has been putting the past behind them as fast as they can.  Like many sub-Saharan countries, there's a high percentage of extreme poverty.  But a World Bank report says that things have been getting better:

"Rwanda's economy is estimated to have grown by a robust 8 percent in 2012, continuing a decade-long period of strong economic growth. The economic expansion was driven by buoyant private sector activity, particularly in the services sector, where growth exceeded expectations. This strong economic performance has allowed Rwanda to claim for the third year in a row, the title of the fastest growing economy in the East African Community. The domestic economy remained strong despite an estimated 20 percent reduction in Official Donor Assistance (ODA) in 2012."

Rwanda is on track to economic independence.  Next two days:  how that happened.

EV Tesla

Elon Musk's strategy for his electric vehicle Tesla is now moving into phase two.  First phase was to make and sell a small number of high priced vehicles, which he did, the Roadster (2500).  

The new Model S is the second phase, a less pricey car in bigger numbers.  It does seem to set itself apart from other EV's in performance and in range (how far it can go before re-charging).

The next phase - if things go well - will be for the masss market.  Fastcompany.com has an intriguing analysis of the Tesla and the business strategy behind it  here.

Driverless car

Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity (see last Friday's post "Online learning"), has another grand concern - cars, like many of his fellow Germans.  Head of AI (artificial intelligence) at Stanford University, he led the development of the Google driverless car.

He explains here that most deaths among young people are due to car accidents, and most of them are from driver error - not mechanical error.  This means that most accidents and accompanying injury/death are preventable if the car can do the driving.

When will they be widely available?  Last week on radio I heard him say that the cars, while mostly error-free, yet will make an error that could lead to an accident every 50,000 miles or so.  They're trying to fix that.

Online students

So, KIPP schools (yesterday's post) take students who have not been very successful and help them become good students using intense engagement - with teachers, with administrators, with parents, with concepts.

"Udacity" is sort of the opposite.  When Sebastian Thrun started his online education company, where there's little interaction between teacher and student, tens of thousands signed up but only a fraction saw the courses through.  It is thought (by an angry-sounding teacher) that this demonstrates:  1) the need for teacher/student engagement to make learning happen, and 2) that only students who are extremely self-motivated and self-controlled can make online education work for themselves (the opposite of the KIPP student).

There's nothing wrong with providing types of education that help all sorts of different students.  That's what a free market does:  it supplies a product if someone wants it.  KIPP serves people, Udacity serves people.

Thrun explains what he wanted to accomplish with Udacity and how it is changing to meet the primarily STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) needs of business here.

Successful schools

Work Hard. Be Nice. was written by Jay Matthews to tell the story of  "How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America."

Schools in neighborhoods of poverty have a poor track record.  The "two inspired teachers" joined Teach for America to go to these tough schools and make a difference, but they failed.

Huge passion for their task led to huge effort, and  finally they found methods that produced successful students.  Those methods include working closely with parents as well as investing extraordinary time and enthusiasm.  They formed a new organization of charter public schools.

"Work hard. Be nice," it became the defining slogan of KIPP Schools.  Their goal is that every student learn and then go to on to a successful college career.

College is conceived of as the best route to empowered lives, and character is considered the key.  Just as in How Children Succeed (the subject of the last three days' posts), character is important at KIPP.  They focus on:  zest, grit, self control, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity.

Success factors

(cont'd, How Children Succeed)

Fully living life means that you overcome problems and obstacles, that you choose between possibilities, that you imagine better things and you build something. Stress is involved.

Stress happens to everybody including children, and that's a good thing.  If a child has a parent who helps him recover from failure and adversity, he/she will be resilient and braver for life.  

But disadvantaged children by definition grow up in a chronically stressed home that may  include abandonment, abuse, alcohol, poverty, etc.  Living like this means that the child's chemical stress response system does lifelong damage if, as is often the case, no one trains him/her to recover from stress and adversity.

The emphasis to help children succeed at school has lifted off of flashcards and educational toys - to an effort to help parents be supportive.  Non-profits often coach parents now to build character qualities into their kids, something they don't know how to do if they haven't had it from their own parents.

The KIPP organization is one effort to work with parents to build successful behavior and thinking into the lives of poor children.  KIPP schools combine intense academic training with equally intense training in character qualities like self-control and optimism.  

Children succeed

(cont'd, How Children Succeed)

A number of studies now show that IQ is not the best predictor of success in school.  The key seems rather to be a set of character qualities.  High GPA may occur all along the intelligence range if the student is able to delay gratification, stick to a goal, ignore distractions, control fear, pursue curiosity, and many more.

The strongest predictor of perseverance and social skills in students is not IQ but rather . . how their parents took care of them.  Really?  Yes.  Here are some summary statements of the findings of a number of studies:

"Babies whose parents responded readily and fully to their cries were, at one year, more independent and intrepid than babies whose parents had ignored their cries."

"Early parental care predicted which students would graduate even more reliably than IQ or achievement test scores."

"Children with secure attachment [to mother] early on were more socially competent throughout their lives."

"Children whose parents had been judged disengaged or emotionally unavailable in early assessments of their parenting style did the worst in preschool,"  that is, they were more often mean, antisocial, and insecure.

"Counselors rated campers who had had secure attachment in infancy as more self-confident, more curious, and better able to deal with setbacks."

"The early nurturing attention from their mothers had fostered in them a resilience that acted as a protective buffer against stress."

"High quality mothering  . . can act as a powerful buffer against the damage that adversity inflicts on a child's stress-response system."

(Un)successful kids

It's incredibly sad to see kids fail in school who then go on to under-perform in later life.  It's a tragedy for the child/adult who can't manage to succeed at anything, and it's a tragedy of loss for his/her society.  The good this person would have contributed to other people goes un-done, and the fulfillment it would have given him/her never happens.

Conventional wisdom since about 1994 has said that children succeed at school as a direct result of the cognitive training they've had.  Some researchers narrowed it down to the number of words a child has heard by age three:  "children raised by professional parents had heard thirty million words spoken to them; the children with parents on welfare had heard just ten million."

Out of this philosophy came the industry of brain-building learning aids for children 0-3 so that concerned parents can offer more books, more flash cards, more educational videos to their young before pre-school.  

But new research seems to indicate that different factors help children succeed, not only in school but in every way.  This may mean that more at-risk kids can be helped to change their lives.

From How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough, published 2012

Thanking God

Since the 1600's, America has traditionally observed days of giving thanks to God.  Even the governor of Virginia in 1779, Thomas Jefferson, who seems not to have been Christian, nevertheless believed in God and complied with the climate of faith to include God in this Thanksgiving proclamation:

"[I]mpressed with a grateful sense of the goodness of Almighty God, in blessing the greater part of this extensive continent  . .  and manifesting in multiplied instances his divine care of these infant states . . 

"[I]t becomes us humbly to approach the throne of Almighty God, with gratitude and praise, for the wonders which his goodness has wrought  . .

"Resolved, that it be recommended to the several states to appoint Thursday the 9th of December next, to be a day of publick and solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for his mercies, and of Prayer, for the continuance of his favour and protection to these United States"

Thankfulness in 1621

President Lincoln started a regular, recurrent, scheduled Thanksgiving holiday in America.  But it was far from the first time Americans had observed a day of giving thanks.

You probably know that the ship Mayflower brought colonists to the New World ("Plimoth") in December (December!) of 1620, and that about half of them died that first winter (I'd guess the rest were very, very uncomfortable).  

But the summer was productive, and the remaining 40 pilgrims plus 90 Indians enjoyed a three-day autumn feast together.  Here's one of the first-person accounts of that feast, taken from a letter: 

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. . . [A]mongst our recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us . . their greatest king Massasoit, with some 90 men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted . . . [B]y the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."  (from The Book of Thanksgiving by Paul Dickson)

If you have all the food and water and warmth you need today (some really don't), and more besides, be thankful!

Memorial to Lewis

Within Westminster Abbey in London (founded 960 A.D.), there is a "Poets' Corner" for the commemoration of distinguished authors, composers, politicians, etc.  Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Disraeli, and many others have a memorial or a burial place there.  Needless to say, it is an honor.

Last Friday, November 22, a memorial was ceremonially placed there for C. S. Lewis on the 50th anniversary of his death.

A wonderful video here will give you an idea of the significance of Lewis' influence ("C. S. Lewis:  Why He Matters Today").  Asbury University Lewis scholar Devin Brown, one of the 24-minute video's creators, says that Lewis demonstrated in his own life what it means to be a Christian in today's world.  You'll see comments from Chuck Colson, Eric Metaxas, author Tim Keller and many others.

Mere Christianity

(cont'd, C. S. Lewis)

The British people must have felt lonely after most of Europe had either allied with Nazi Germany or been defeated by them.  America didn't enter the war until December 1941,  so most of that year the British stood by themselves.  The radio voice they most recognized was that of Winston Churchill, and the radio voice who became second most recognized came on for the first time in August:  C. S. Lewis.

BBC radio wanted him as a non-clergyman to give several series of talks on the basic Christian faith.  A gifted Oxford scholar, he chose not to speak like a professor but rather to speak to all Britons in a tone of "common sense" (as The Guardian put it).  The book, Mere Christianity, puts all the talks together.

"Right and Wrong:  A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe" was the first series because,  sensibly, Lewis did not assume that all his listeners were on board with Biblical principles. He built the case that natural moral law is pretty much the same in different human cultures, as if that law is built into human hearts by our Creator.

Only one of his broadcast talks survived WWII that I'm aware of, and here it is.  In this talk he answers the question, "how can God listen to all people's prayers at the same time?"

Weight of Glory

(cont'd, C. S. Lewis)

"Weight of Glory" is now read as an essay though it first was a talk that Lewis gave at a church in Oxford, England, in 1941.  Maybe part of the reason why it is popular is its unusual approach:  the argument for God from desire.  

Everyone has probably had the experience of greatly desiring something and getting it - but then finding it disappointing, not the satisfaction that you hoped.

It's a common thing, and Lewis thought it could be a clue to what we're made for:  this world is not our ultimate home and our deepest longings can't be fulfilled by earthly pleasures but only in fellowship with God.

 " . . nearly every description [in the New Testament] of what we shall ultimately find if we [deny ourselves and follow Christ]  contains an appeal to desire. . Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Ross Douthat, columnist at the NY Times, had some comments about "Weight of Glory" last week.

RIP C.S. Lewis

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University and Cambridge University, and one of the most admired and quoted authors of the twentieth century.

Brilliant atheist until the age of about 32, he went on to be a brilliant and influential Christian thereafter.  His own autobiography, Surprised by Joy, and many biographies attribute his conversion to a combination of rigorous thought and a captivated literary imagination - he fell in love with the Christian narrative about the God who loved humanity sacrificially.

If you haven't read his fiction, apologetics, essays, talks, and need to get started, I could recommend a few of my favorites:  The Chronicles of Narnia (series of children's fiction - but adults love them), Mere Christianity (down-to-earth explanation of generic Christianity), The Weight of Glory (his most popular essay), Screwtape Letters (witty fictional training letters from a senior demon of hell to his trainee).

Note and remember

President Lincoln's prediction that the world would "little note nor long remember" his remarks at Gettysburg turned out to be inaccurate.  There's a bit of a movement to not only remember but even learn the short talk.

See politicians and celebrities reciting the Lincoln Gettysburg Address here.

Gettysburg address

President Abraham Lincoln was invited to the November 19, 1863, dedication of Gettysburg Cemetery, where tens of thousands were buried after a Civil War battle.  The president was not the main speaker.  He spoke for only 2 minutes, and the other speech lasted 2 hours.

Lincoln wanted to honor the dead and the cause for which they fought.  Here is what he said:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

November 19, 1863

Big Bang

(cont'd, Mere Apologetics by Alister McGrath)

One of the claims of recent atheism has been that belief in God doesn't make sense, that it's irrational.  Part of that line of argument has to do with the progress of science.

"Although New Atheist propagandists regularly declare that scientific advance and progress has eroded the case for belief in God in the last century, the facts are otherwise.  The relation of science and faith changed decisively in the later twentieth century.  The first decades of the twentieth century were dominated by a scientific belief in the eternity of the universe.  It had always existed.  Religious language about "creation" was seen as mythological nonsense, incompatible with cutting-edge scientific knowledge." (pg. 96)

Then around the middle of the last century, it became clear that - on the contrary - the universe actually had a beginning.  "Big Bang" theory is now one of the most tested and confirmed scientific theories.  Its consonance with the Bible and a Creator ("In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Genesis 1:1) is obvious.

Big Bang theory does not prove Christianity, nor that God exists. But it is one big piece of evidence, even scientific evidence, that says the option to believe in God is quite reasonable.

Christian answers

To leave an objection unanswered is to agree with it:  either an answer is given, or the objection is allowed to stand.   For many decades in America, as culture has become less knowledgeable about the faith, questions both sincere and contentious have been directed toward Christianity.  I want the questions to be answered for both kinds of questioners.

Alister McGrath, professor of theology at Oxford, offers satisfying clarity to that whole attempt of Christians to provide answers, which is called "apologetics."

"Apologetics is not a set of techniques for winning people to Christ.  It is not a set of argumentative templates designed to win debates.  It is a willingness to work with God in helping people discover and turn to his glory. . . 

"Far from being a mechanical repetition of ideas, apologetics is about a natural realization of the answers that arise from a deep and passionate immersion in the realities of our faith." (p. 41)

"[T]here is no substitute for long, hard, and prayerful reflection on the great truths of faith on the one hand - and the identity of the audiences we shall engage and address on the other." (p. 42)

(from Mere Apologetics)

Gratitude. Beauty.

Aid to change

(cont'd, content from Dead Aid -- reminder: the aid addressed here is not emergency and charity aid)

Herself an African, Dambisa Moyo wonders why the Western powers keep funneling vast sums to African governments when, " . . donors, policymakers, governments, academicians, economists and development specialists know in their heart of hearts that aid doesn't work, hasn't worked, and won't work." (pg. 46)

There could be many reasons all working together.  Rich governments are able to exert some influence and control when they dispense cash like this.  Then there's the aggressive pressure of celebrities who scold the public and their governments for not giving enough. There's even an estimated 500,000 people worldwide who are connected in some way to cash transfers to Africa and who are working to perpetuate their livelihood.

But is dependency really best for Africa?  Of course not.

She asks the rhetorical question, are Africans genetically incompetent?  The answer is no.  Dr. Moyo would like to see the African continent wean itself from the destructive aid cycle toward creating wealth with methods that every developed nation has used, and which are available to African nations who can walk away from the drug-like appeal of aid.  

Aid to poverty

(cont'd, content from Dead Aid)

According to author Dambisa Moyo, foreign aid to African governments (in addition to encouraging a climate for corruption) actually hinders the recipient country from moving ahead economically.

There's an accurate worldwide perception that African leaders have "crowned themselves in gold, seized land, handed over state business to relatives and friends, diverted billions to foreign bank accounts, and generally treated their countries as giant personalized cash dispensers."  She calls it "rank corruption" on a "stupendous scale."

The "diverted billions" should have been invested in public goods and infrastructure.  Instead, it's been a sort of jackpot for winning the power struggle and may go to the winner's armies who keep him in power. Ordinary wealth-creating businesses, meanwhile, entail more risk where the government is not accountable to the people.

Dr. Moyo did a TED Talk summarizing Dead Aid in 2009 which you can see here.

Aid to corruption

(cont'd, Dead Aid)

Let's remember that the goal of all monetary aid is prosperity for the nation's people - not extravagance for their rulers.  

Sadly, the result is often the latter.  "Africa's first billionaire woman" is Isabel dos Santos, daughter of  Angola's president.  While 70% of the Angolan people live on $2 per day, she has managed to amass a fortune of 3 billion dollars.  

How?  Forbes has been tracing her climb to riches:  "As best as we can trace, every major Angolan investment held by [Isabel] Dos Santos stems either from taking a chunk of a company that wants to do business in the country or from a stroke of the president’s pen that cut her into the action."

Moyo and George Ayittey and others believe that the millions of dollars of aid that flow into African nations is easily diverted toward the personal wealth of corrupt, uncaring, unwise leaders, leaving little or nothing for the prosperity of the people. 

Aid to Africa

Dambisa Moyo grew up in the African nation of Zambia having well-educated parents.  After getting degrees at Harvard and then Oxford, she worked for the World Bank as an economist and at Goldman Sachs.  Quite the resume.  

In 2009 she published NY Times best-seller Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa.  Aid is not all the same:  humanitarian aid is good but aid to governments has been hurtful, she says.

Since the 1940's, Western nations have given aid of different types to African nations amounting to about a trillion U.S. dollars (that's a thousand billion).   So how much richer are the poor Africans after all this?   Here is Dr. Moyo's answer:

"With an average per capita income of roughly US$1 a day, sub-Saharan Africa remains the poorest region in the world.  Africa's real per capita income today is lower than in the 1970's, leaving many African countries at least as poor as they were forty years ago."

Twelve years a slave

I don't plan to go see the movie "Twelve Years a Slave." From the sound of it, it's far from entertainment. Watching someone go through a "hellish nightmare" will be a nightmare in itself.

If you plan to see it, I hope you'll read this review before and after because it's going to be painful and this will help you think it through.

As you'll read repeatedly on this blog, there's more to humankind than just the physical or animal.  The total reality about human beings includes not only material but spiritual and moral truth, good and evil.  The injustice and cruelty done to the man in this movie (based on a real person) was genuine evil.

U.S. Debt Clock

Look here if you want to watch our debt relentlessly climbing every instant.  ("Wait - wait - stop!!")  At this writing, every person in our population of 317 million owes almost $400,000.

What should be done?  We should (at least) slow down.  There's nothing noble about loading our heirs with debt so that we can buy . . well, our government just wants to buy stuff.

"Chief Explorer" job

Jauntaroo has been conducting a search for their new "Chief World Explorer," and they've narrowed the field down to just five candidates.  One of them will be traveling for a year and creating content for the website.

See what kinds of people go for this job and deliver an effective performance in front of the camera.

Where persecution is

This website highlights the 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted for their faith.

"The World Watch List (WWL) is a ranking of 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is worst. First of all, the list covers persecution of Christians of all denominations in the entire country. The focus is on persecution for their faith, not persecution for political, economic, social, ethnic or accidental reasons."

Jew defends Christians

Steven B. Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, says "The persecution of any religious minority anywhere by anyone is an evil injustice. . . For people of conscience, for people of all faiths, now is not the time to be silent."

He's referring to the blast of persecution Middle Eastern Christians have been suffering this fall.  

 "Mobs burned dozens of Christian schools, convents, monasteries, institutions, and churches of any, and all Christian denominations" in Egypt.  In Syria, "A senior Church leader . . has said almost a third of the country's Christians have fled their homes.

Drawing from the horrific Nazi persecution of Jews on "Kristallnacht," he wants us to understand that "the burning of houses of worship can be a red alert that worse is yet to come."

Mountains and light

Moments of drama and beauty were observed and preserved by climbers . . who entered their photos in this contest.   

Top one  hundred of those stunning photos are here at the International Mountain Summit site.

"The €3,000 ($4,102) top prize went to Frenchman Alexandre Buisse for his photo of a snowstorm on Chopicalqui, a peak in the Andes Mountains in Peru."

Bono for capitalism

U2's Bono has lobbied for decades in the cause of more and more aid handouts from Western countries to Africa.  

But some Africans (see this week's earlier posts) protest that aid has been hurting Africa more than helping.  The charge is that corrupt leaders get their hands on the millions, and that average people see very little of it.  Dambisa Moyo has spoken and written on this, one of her books being Dead Aid.

George Ayittey argues that not only does foreign aid produce corruption, but that the efforts of African people to create wealth are hindered in many ways (see Tuesday's post).

The amazing thing is that Bono has changed his mind.  He's still a bit shocked by it, says "it's been a humbling thing for me," but he now says that aid is only a "stopgap."

At a conference about a year ago, he said,   "Job creators and innovators are just the key, and aid is just a bridge."  Redistribution of wealth isn't the answer.  Society prospers when wealth is created.  For stories about how that happens, see the topic "Create Wealth" on the right.

You've got to respect a person who changes his mind when he receives better information. Winners make corrections.

"Please stop" (the aid)

Spiegel interviewer Thielo Thielke is shocked:  economist James Shikwati from Kenya begs the West to stop sending millions of dollars, food, and clothing to Africa.

Thielke is confused.  But people will starve if we don't help them, he said!  The problem is, as in the Bono quote from two days ago, "aid is just a stopgap."  Yes, it is good for a temporary emergency measure, but it's just inadequate in the long run.

What Africans need is a growing economy (Bono: Africa needs "to become an economic powerhouse").  They need prosperous farms and industry - they need to create wealth.

Western industrialized countries did that during the last few centuries which is why they have enough wealth to give away.  And, according to Ayittey (yesterday's post), Africa supported itself before the colonists arrived and can do it again if the West will stop sabotaging their weaving businesses, their corn farms, their local/community efforts to create wealth.

Cheetahs vs. Hippos

George Ayittey, economist from Ghana, says that Africa's elitist leaders are "hippos."  Note who he calls "cheetahs" in his TED talk:

Ayittey condemns African leaders who he claims have not cared for the people they lead  (he calls it the "blind leading the clueless").  Instead, they have made themselves rich by manipulating aid money.  He believes aid has done more harm than good for Africans.

U2's Bono was in attendance, and approached him afterward. Ayittey gave him a copy of his book, Africa Unchained, which may have helped Bono re-think the problems of African nations.

Years ago I remember asking someone (sure wish I could tell you who it was) why Africa is so poor when it has so much in the way of natural resources.  That someone told me that the reason lies with Africa's corrupt and brutal leaders.  So this video - by an African - resonates with me.

Stopgap aid to Africa

Bono of the band U2 made headlines again this past August.  It was not for a concert; it was not for asking developed countries to donate aid to Africa (the 1985 concert, "Live Aid," was his  first fundraising concert).  He has changed his narrative.

The policy of West has been to pump money, food, clothing, wealth in general into African countries that they perceived as needy and desperate.  Motive?  They saw poverty, and they wanted to help.

But did it help?  That is the question.  As more became known about the results of massive aid, voices - from Africa - tried to change the paradigm.  

Bono has been one of the most influential people in the world in raising money for African aid.  But here's what he said in August 2013:

"Aid is just a stopgap. Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse."

Movie heroism

Acculturated.com reviews the movie, "Captain Phillips" with Tom Hanks and some young Somalis recruited to act.  The author says that wisdom and prudence have their part to play in the making of a hero.

"Green" clarification

Maybe I should clarify what side I take in "green" environmental issues. I'd call my position cautious.

From recent articles in Spiegel International, it looks like we could learn from Germany's experience: their aggressive "green" policies are costing taxpayers a lot (as in the United Kingdom, yesterday's post) while showing little in the way of results.

So far I'm not convinced that global warming is or isn't an urgent danger.  If the German Green Party politician Herman Ott is at all representative of the movement,  I'm skeptical.

We seem to have nothing to show for the hundreds of millions we've thrown at green companies in the U.S. . . while our debt is horrible.

I'm taking these issues one at a time, still thinking things through.