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The strange allure of the slums »
Posted by: _kam0_ 2 years, 1 month agoWhy people prefer urban squalor to rural hopelessness
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Comments: 64
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WCFIELDS
May 14, 2007, 11:55 a.m."...piles of human faeces littering the ground and sewage running freely, the stench is ever-present."
Some young American Businessman will make millions selling this to American Middle Class Housewives to fertilize their garden projects.
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joeblowe
May 14, 2007, 12:06 p.m.I is clear to me that each household in Africa needs to be provided with free satellite TV. And, of course, the electricity to run it. If they would spend some time watching the tube, they would: 1) Get SOME education - if only from watching commercials 2) get diverted from procreating so proficiently 3) POSSIBLY gain some sense of civilization and culture. A growing population in an area that is already so destitute is foolish beyond a normal person's grasp. And of course the rampant corruption doesn't much help the common person either. (Same as here, I guess) If the wealth that is generated in Africa were distributed even SOMEWHAT evenly across the population, their poverty level would drop dramatically.
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Wizardcotx
May 14, 2007, 12:32 p.m.The thing is "WHO CARES" That part of the world has been one gigantic slum for centuries.. Mud hut villages, Tribal Warfare, Disease, Hunger, the only difference is now they can get more publicity... I am sure the UN will try to get the USA to give them a few billion dollars to waste on the "problem" People will live as they want to live. and in africia, that seems to be at the bottom of the heap.
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WCFIELDS
May 14, 2007, 1:06 p.m.Many Africans have gone back to subsistence farming. The fortunes we spend to "Help" only help the do-gooder organizations, their CEO"s and employees. STOP wasting your money.
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NormalHeightsSteve
May 14, 2007, 1:26 p.m.This kind of makes my complaints about pot holed streets seem trivial.
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Obaku
May 14, 2007, 1:33 p.m.And it is likely that from one of these slums the next pandemic will arise.
Just waiting for some haemorraghic fever virus to find a way to use a biting insect as a vector..
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BEEHOF
May 14, 2007, 2:38 p.m.The Economist magazine does an excellent job of unbiased reporting on issues that rarely appear in American publications, or, if they do, never achieve such depth of detail. The complexity of the issue of city slums - tolerant, powerless poor; indifferent or greedy politicians and business men; the need for cheap labor; the tragic hopelessness in rural areas which drive the poor into the cities; the well-meaning but ineffectual aid groups; and the sheer massiveness of the problem means there is almost no way to make it better. Top to bottom, no one wants to risk changing the status quo.
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slate
May 14, 2007, 4:09 p.m.Easy now
I never said anything like what you imply, the need to help others is a good human condition,,,, but help with assurance that the help gets where it needs to go, to help elevate those that need it to help themselves and be self reliant.
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JamalWindfall
May 14, 2007, 4:44 p.m.The title is the only part of this article that is readable. It offers up plenty of useless statistics and underlying objurgation but never really delivers on the promise to meet head on with the intriguing subject matter. In the end I was left with yet another 3rd grade piece of dribble - well this is mainstream news what in the hell did I expect.
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slate
May 14, 2007, 5:16 p.m.What many that live in the US forget is that how fortunate they are to have been born here instead of some third or fourth world country. We get despondent when gas goes to $3 PG. We freak when the stock market falls a few points. We have it pretty good here for the most part and have the ability help others. This means helping not only by just throwing money at the problem but trying to help with solutions to build economic wealth in other places. The Chinese proverb about fishing comes to mind.
The planet is vast yet small, as someone said here; a Pandemic could be a possible threat from the squalor. If nothing more, thank your lucky stars if you are on this site and live in one of the better countries on the planet. Remember you were born there more out of chance than having some sort of 'right' to so deserve.
I think All nations should chip in and help with this cause though not just the US, this is the worlds problem as a whole.
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jmopinion
May 14, 2007, 6:18 p.m.Give them birth control pills instead of food. They keep cranking out babies that there is no way they can support.
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river-rat
May 14, 2007, 6:50 p.m.This is just so sad. These people need help. They are just trying to band togeather in the slums for support. If you have never gone without, and most Americans haen't no matter what they think, you don't know how alone you can feel, hungry cold nd alone. Birth control pills are not the answer any more than some free food. They need to be taught how to support themselves and how to raise theri own food etc. We are so lucky because it is a given that we at least have a chance to get something in this country. Try to see what they are living.
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0gramstransfat
May 14, 2007, 8:29 p.m.i wonder how many of the corrupt governments in the African continent were put in place or supported by the American government? America has a long history of silently supporting corrupt governments that will allow American interests and corporations into these countries to plunder the natural resources there, leaving the citizens of the countries in the dust. And no, I'm not saying ALL of the African countries that have an overwhelming amount of poor and/or diseased citizens are the result of American foreign policy... just most of them. :-) I wonder when the last time a big American oil company that draws oil from these countries spent some of their billions of dollars in profits on programs for citizens of the country to educate and better themselves?
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Marlon74
May 14, 2007, 9:53 p.m.Why do these people like the slums more than the country? At least you have cleaner water and air in the country, and privacy too, not to mention the peace and tranquility. And it's much easier to catch a nasty disease in the city.
Am I missing something here?
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jonmaverick
May 14, 2007, 10:30 p.m.Wikipedia says that Kibera, one of the slums mentioned, has about a million people living there. It is the home of approximately one-fifth of Africa's HIV-positive population. That's 0.2 times 2,200,000... hmmm... that's 440,000. That's nearly half the 'city' infected. While at first glance, this may seem like the ideal place for a tactical nuke, it's much more likely that somebody will put in a phone line nearby, and hire every last one of them to do technical support for your satellite tv.
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Bpicone
May 14, 2007, 10:45 p.m.I just want to point out that poverty is not a simple problem... certainly there poor people who are lazy... but that is not why much of an entire continent is in poverty. I mean I can't say so for sure, I'm just saying that I think some people on here (including myself) really need to look into this more without making hasty conclusions.
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river-rat
May 14, 2007, 11:49 p.m.If we look around I think we have all seen slums but I don't think we have seen slums like they have in Africa. Even in Mexico or Apilacia I have seen terrible poverty but not like in Africa. We all need to have a little compasion for those who are less fortunate than we are. If you are Christian, the Bible tells us the poor will always be with us and that we must have compasion and take care of those less fortunate. Most religions of the world address this issue. So where is our compassion and our caring? When I was young I worked in programs to assist those who are less fortunate. In fact I devoted my working years to work that helped people in distress. No one person can take care of every one but each individual whom you help is one less in need. If we all were willing to help support just one unfortunate person our world would be a better place for everyone. By the way I am not very religious, I just care for my fellow travelers no matter what color or creed they follow.
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wildman6557
May 14, 2007, 11:57 p.m.There is NO place in America that is anywhere near Africa. The poverty in the Third World is staggering.
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evelyna
May 15, 2007, 12:39 a.m.In America the ghettoites entertain themselves by shooting their friends and neighbors.
They must not be as hostile or do not have guns in Africa.
It is like any where else people wait for things to happen.
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MikeReardon
May 15, 2007, 3:42 a.m.Western capitalists and Japan and Korea have traded or are trading their manufacturing and productive services to lower wage nations mostly socialist Asian nations for cheap products and services. That process is economically freeing hundreds of millions rural and urban poor in those greater Asian nations - India and China and the rest of Southeast Asia. Africa has mineral resources that this expanding Asian markets will need to continue this expansion. The hope would be that the money for those commodities extracted from Africa will lift a middle class in the center of many of these cities. Someone will need to fill this expansion of 2 trillion Asians.
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slate
May 15, 2007, 8:28 a.m.So true about not really having a say so in money spent around the world.
So much is wasted on many pet projects for those in congress simply to garner votes
We come to the aid of peoples around the world when there is a natural disaster no matter where or if that country is our ally or not
We spend money in our interests for political reasons as well, often sited for reasons of human compassion. Some would say that Bosnia and Iraq are but two examples.
In the end like everything else, it's the perception of whether the cause is deemed just by individuals when they make a stand for or against such aid.
Yes we spend much money and some of it is squandered on causes that many feel are unworthy. I hope the reasons for dissent here come not from the mere fact of where the geologic region is that needs help. Human suffering has no region, race, creed or religion, only when we see the planet as all humans, deserving of compassion will there ever be hope.
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hoppy
May 15, 2007, 1:02 p.m.Parts of Africa are rich in oil deposits. The profits never go to the starving and homeless. It goes to corrupt officials in government. Too bad others have to starve for greed and crime.
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