The Global Alternative
by Jorge Vargas
Let us face it and be frank with ourselves. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, along with the set of prescriptions that the Western specialists have given to the poor countries - let us not say Third World, the term is insulting - have almost always failed. Those who disagree with such a statement are challenged to present arguments against it - please, entertain me.
Yes, there has been some economic growth and some economic miracles, but the economic growth is almost always sector-specific and the benefits almost always go to small elites. The growth miracles are an exception, but they are what make one have to write 'almost always' instead of 'always.'
Across the world - Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Peru, Senegal, etc., etc., etc. - the advice of the almighty, pretentious, and holier-than-thou First World 'experts' has led to a disaster in which the neo-liberal economic model is in retreat, being replaced instead by real-world calculations.
The reasons for the failures of the armchair observers in the Ivory Tower is that they are coming up with economic models based on the West's economic growth and this is making the economic moguls believe that they have provided the cures for humanity without realizing that, at best, they are describing a series of events and institutions that existed in, to use an example, the United States in the 1800s and 1900s. Then they take this economic model and tell the Egyptians to apply it, and force the Egyptians to apply it, and when the Egyptians apply it and the model goes horribly awry, these economic Messiahs blame it on the Egyptian political system - a system that the experts originally ignored. Only when the model fails does context matter.
The experts are fine with failure. After all, this is the pursuit of knowledge and of the perfect model - this is what we attempt to ingrain in our educational institutions, is it not? There is a difference, however. If a pretentious college student comes up with a theory that his professor proves wrong, the student still gets points for effort. If the World Bank specialist gets proven wrong after testing out the big theory on Bolivia, thousands of Bolivians will be thrown into extreme poverty and children will die of malnutrition and adults will grow to fall in love with revolution. There are no points for effort.
Senegal's President made the case perfectly well in Lisbon recently when he pointed out to reporters that the bureaucratic requirements of the experts makes a country like Senegal lose five years before aid arrives, whereas the no-questions-asked approach of China is quick and direct, and is showing results. The roads are being built. The hospitals are being maintained. In the meantime, the economic models of Europe and the United States, which held great sway in the past few decades, are arguably highly responsible for the fact that the rich are getting disgustingly richer and the poor are getting embarrassingly poorer.
It is ironic that, on the day that Senegal's leader makes such statements, the Banco Del Sur - Bank of the South - was inaugurated by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela. The bank will provide funds for economic and social development projects, with most of the funds being provided by Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela, and with a central headquarters in Caracas (Venezuela) and offices in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and La Paz (Bolivia). It will start with $800 million and is expected to have a reserve of $7 billion in order to deal with natural disasters as well as expanding into the development of joint scientific programs for the Continent.
The bank will, naturally, have some problems at the beginning and it is possible that it will fail to operate effectively for some time but it is an adequate representation of the fact that the nations loosely categorized as 'Third World' are absolutely tired of the schemes of the experts.
For once, perhaps, it seems as if the move toward financial independence could not come at a greater time, since the diplomatic differences between Europe and the United States, along with the inherent weaknesses in the US that are now open for the world to see, are making such moves easier for the impoverished nations of the Global South. This is the time of opportunity.
But this is not merely about accusing the inept and arrogant experts of the First World, and their blind followers in the Global South. They have been accused.
This is about informing them that this is a time for them to re-think their strategies. They who speak of human dignity have dignified themselves at the sake of 4 billion people. They who cherish human rights are dehumanizing us. They who fight wars for the sake of others are making our lives more precarious. The freedom lovers are forcing us into deeper hells of poverty that are making rebels of our would-be Churchills, Einsteins, and Shumans.
If they want to work with us, they need to realize that the world has changed and the balance of power is tilting. It is not tilting in favor of the poor - not directly - but rather in favor of Brazil, China, India, and Russia. The United States and its European followers, along with that Pacific archipelago, are finding that they can no longer ignore the poor.
This is not simply a reversion to the Cold War, since this competition is now multipolar, and it is regional in character rather than global. This is not about Aligned and Not-Aligned States. This is about the US and its chafing allies, Brazil and its neighbors, Venezuela and those it sponsors, the Arab States, the Chinese and their dependants, the Russians and those in their sphere of influence, and so forth. The closest model that we have to this is Europe shortly before World War One. Furthermore, these poles of influence are not in direct opposition to one another, but they do have some interests that conflict.
And economic development is one of them.
The experts, who claim at times to be above petty nationalisms, of the so-called First World - if that term is valid - must now make a decision. Improve the theories while no longer ignoring the political and social and geopolitical realities of the countries in question, or cling to the Western models and try to change us and find out that we will not be changed because we finally have other options.
If they want to respect human rights, they should earnestly try to improve our economies and honestly promote democracy. Then, and perhaps only then, will human rights be respected, because with democracy and economic stability, we - the dirty, unstable, and corrupt Third Worlders - will defend our own human rights without that assistance that you so willingly offer but that we never asked for.
The time for grand theories, half-measures, disgusting self-interest, hegemonic manipulations, and incorrect blame is dead and over. You can join us in turning the page or find yourself left out of the conclusion. It is one or the other, and, to quote Mr. Bush, you are either with us or you are against us, because this is the great conflict and struggle of our time.
