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Notes -
What do you think about the concept of the Global North and South?
I never payed much attention to this way of looking at global economics. I don't know anyone from South America or Africa and only a handful of folks from Asia. My only economic reference comes from Fukuyama's "The End of History", where he spent a few pages describing dependency theory and then refuting it by showing how poor Asian countries were able to grow while South American countries, despite being in a similar situation, were not.
A few days ago, I had a chance to meet some people from South America. I believe they were from Brazil and Venezuela. Both worked for NGOs. They quickly turned the topic to colonization, blaming it for all the problems in their countries. I know their countries are not doing too well, both in terms of civic freedom and economics, but I was surprised by how strong their views were--they basically said the Europe and the US are to blame for the bad situation their countries are in. Europe, for colonization and "mass rape", and the USA for the Monroe Doctrine (and the associated string of interference) as well as extracting wealth from South America.
I didn't have time to query them for more details. I'm ambivalent on the question of colonization. I haven't studied it much nor thought about it. I can easily imagine that US interventions have had a destabilizing effect on SA, but I can't imagine how big of an effect that would be. I remember reading Noah Smith's piece on Cuba and how its failure is not the fault of the American embargo, but rather of obviously bad economic policy. I can't help but think that this is the case for other South American countries as well.
How much merit do you think there is in accusing US and Europe for inflicting poverty on the global south? What should I search for if I wanted to know more--thinkers, articles, etc.?
I've got some personal experience with this vis. living there, and there is something to it.
I lived in a place with good relations with the U.S. 'cause they didn't get caught up in the initial fruit wars and otherwise had no useful resources to extract and are extremally tourist friendly; and everyone on the ground knows that their economic success is 90% attributable to the grace of good 'ol Uncle Sam.
The neighboring country has the Same geography, same racial makeup, same culture, same language, same resource distribution, was inhabited by the same group pre-Spanish settlement, was Conquista'd in the same period, was managed as one administrative unit by Europe during the colonial period, and gained independence within the same Year, month, and day, and had the same style of government after that independence.
Literally the only difference between these countries is that they were slightly richer pre-1900's, and were involved in the first set of Banana wars.
100 years latter, the poor country is doing pretty well, the neighboring rich country occasionally has refugee convoys getting out just ahead of the death squads and has a currency valuation that is doing sick trampoline acrobatics.
It's had to assign the separation point to anything but U.S. colonial ambitions in the 1910-1930's.
Thanks for sharing. I'll dig a bit into what happened in the early XX century.
I recommended Smedley Butler's book, and just general research on the Banana wars, our anti-communist actions in SA during the cold war, and the knock-on effects of plantation economies on modernization.
It's also just mad interesting, IMO.
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