ipl-logo

The White Man's Burden Summary

1158 Words5 Pages

William Easterly is an American economist, specialized in the field of development economics. He is mainly noted for his research and studies about developmental issues and themes in the Third World, like foreign aid to poor countries and the policies involved in the process of ending poverty. These issues are deeply discussed in his second book, The White Man’s Burden (2006), in which he heavily criticizes the “West’s” way of helping underdeveloped countries through aid institutions (World Bank, UN agencies, etc.) and plans that helped but little. According to him, the problems linked to poverty should be approached differently, especially after a long history of repeated “missed goals” and failures. In his opinion, aid is needed for poor …show more content…

Easterly believes that little has changed when it comes to the White’s illusion of superiority and states that “the savage people” and “uncivilized” of yesterday are today referred to as “third war” and “underdeveloped”, respectively. This mindset should be changed. Poor countries can find a way to prosper without intervention and massive aid programs. The bottom 4 developing countries in terms of receipts of foreign aid had no problem achieving healthy growth rates. Countries like Hong-Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan went from being 3rd world countries to developed countries in less than 4 decades (GDP speaking). Botswana for instance was a success story in Africa with unprecedented growth rate in per capita income and GDP. According to Easterly, the main factor behind this is the participation, in the economy, of decentralized agents who were held accountable, without having western agents taking a significant share of their profits. The Democratic Republic of Congo has more natural resources than Botswana, but a miserable economy. Botswana, in contrast, has stability and above all, …show more content…

Searchers are constantly aware of the fact that poverty results from a combination of political, social, historical, institutional and technological factors: the legend of The Big Push appears to be a lie. The legend attribute poverty to an inherited trap which can be overcome by foreign aid programs to push the economy up Poor countries of today aren’t necessarily so because they started off poor and couldn’t develop; statistics show that countries with above-average aid had a growth similar to those with below-average aid. Foreign aid can do well to the economy, but it is not a mean to overcome poverty. Chad, despite foreign aid, had a growth of nearly 0% in 50 years, while Botswana with less aid sprung

Show More
Related

  • Archilde Leon's The Surrounded: White Man Culture

    224 Words  | 1 Pages

    Good afternoon everyone, today I am gonna introduce a book named The Surrounded . As you can infer from the name, the main character Archilde Leon was surrounded by different cultures---Indian(in America), Spanish and so-called White Man Culture. Archilde’s mother was an old Indian woman whose father was chief Running Wolf when alive; Archilde’s father was a bothering Spanish who regarded his seven sons as seven dogs. Archilde grew up in such an Indian-Spanish mixed family. The major conflict came out because of his journal to Poland.

    Read More

  • White Privilege By Peggy Mcintoch Summary

    1147 Words  | 5 Pages

    As Neyyirah Waheed once stated, “Never trust anyone who says they do not see color. This means to them, you are invisible.” Neyyirah is explaining how at one time, when one’s self was little, one is taught not see color. But at the same time, one becomes more aware of the situation while being told to ignore it all at once. Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack reflects on how she was taught how to deny the privilege she was born with as a white woman but also how to benefit from it.

    Read More

  • Summary Of White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

    1862 Words  | 8 Pages

    The severity of racial profiling is very concerning. As proven by numerous texts studied for this Expository Writing class, it is evident that the Black respondents of Otis Johnson’s poll, analyzing citizens’ relationships with the police, are not the only Black people that: “expressed far less confidence than whites in local police to treat both races equally” (Johnson). In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh describes various privileges which sound ordinary, though surprisingly only White people have. Among them, is one that affects all people on a daily basis: “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race” (McIntosh). Governmental

    Read More

  • Summary Of White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

    711 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, written by Peggy McIntosh, suggest a list of invisible privileges, which she is immune towards due to her ethical background. McIntosh names the numerous ways and examples of privileges she obtained from her white heritage. Which most other ethical race would have to think twice before attempting. People of the white heritage in the United States, are not stereotyped or live in fear of being a victim of racism like many other race. McIntosh provides a solid point; in addition she supports her arguments through observations and examples of her personal life.

    Read More

  • The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man By James Weldon Johnson

    2126 Words  | 9 Pages

    In many books there are characters that you love, hate, and then some that you don’t have a particular opinion about. It could be because they aren’t around in the books enough, or it could be because their bad actions and their good actions cancel each other out. These characters are called ambiguous characters. In “The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man”, by James Weldon Johnson, the father can be seen as an ambiguous character. This is caused by the good things he does, like coming to see his son when he was young, buying his son a piano, giving his son the gift of not having to deal with racism until he is a bit older, and granting his son a way out of the African American lifestyle.

    Read More

  • The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man By James Weldon Johnson

    1416 Words  | 6 Pages

    The concept of what it means to be white and black in America is explored throughout the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, by James Weldon Johnson. This novel explores these concepts through the life of a man who is both black and white and is perceived as both. His being both white and black allows him to explore and experience life as both a white man and a black man. This lens allows him to experience what it means to black and what it means to be white in America. Although race is usually defined solely on skin color, this novel suggests otherwise.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Negro In The United States By W. E. B. Dubois

    2602 Words  | 11 Pages

    In his 1915 book, The Negro in the United States, W.E.B. DuBois wrote, "There was one thing that the white South feared more than negro dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, and that was negro honesty, knowledge, and efficiency” (“The Negro” Par. 41). After the end of the Civil War, white southerners were faced with one of the worst nightmares coming to true: African Americans were freed from slavery, granted equal protection, and given the right to vote. As Reconstruction progressed, African Americans were confronted with significant change for the fist tim in the history of the United States. After the removal of the Federal Troops following the corrupt bargain of 1877, there was a period of relative calm in the South which was ended by the Supreme Court decision to legalize segregation in the Plessy v.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Charles Mills's Article 'White Ignorance'

    906 Words  | 4 Pages

    In his article “White Ignorance, ” Charles Mills argues that ignorance has largely contributed to the creation and segregation of racial and gender groups. He supports his case by identifying the “originally solitary Cartesian cognizer,” which is the imperialistic British state of mind where whites, especially white males, were dominant, and the historical implications of that state of mind, specifically the idea that all non-whites were inferior in thought process and mannerisms therefore do not deserve the time of day required to be understood. Although he labels this ignorance “white ignorance,” he does not limit this intentional ignorance to just white males or the repercussions to racial separation. Instead he designates it as a specific way of thinking that encourages ignorance in favor of the dominant party in a given situation. At the end of his article, Mills comes to the conclusion that ignorance, in general, is damaging to society, specifically interactions between people, and comes up with

    Read More

  • The Struggle For Black Equality Summary

    662 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first three chapters of the reading, The Struggle for Black Equality, Harvard Sitkoff runs through the civil rights movement in the 20th century; outlining the adversities facing black people, the resistance to black equality, hindrances to the already progress and the achievements made in the journey for civil rights. John Hope Franklin, in the foreword, dwells on the impact of the time between 1954 and 1992 and the impact it had on American Society, how fight for equality is far from easy and patience is required in the fight to "eliminate the road blocks that prevent the realization of the ideal of equality". In the preface, Sitkoff is clear that that history does not speak for themselves and attempt to detail any particular will be influenced by the author 's personal beliefs. Sitkoff, who associated and identified with the movement, believed "that the struggle was confronting the United States with an issue that had undermined the nation 's democratic institutions". Sitkoff elected

    Read More

  • Effects Of Imperialism In Rwanda

    1889 Words  | 8 Pages

    “An in-depth analysis on effects of Imperialism on Rwanda” Nowadays, European countries such as England, France, Germany, Belgium, and many other countries possess a colossal clout throughout the world. It is an impeccable fact that such countries, indeed, have served as a rudiment pivot and step for the world to be advanced to the point where we are since the Industrial Revolution. Such countries, because of it, without a doubt, have a crucial status globally and become the superpower and commercial hub on our planet. On the back side of their gleaming growth, however, there is an invisible part left behind their luminous development: the Imperialism. The term “Imperialism” refers to a policy of extending a country’s authority and political clout by using its military forces and diplomacy.

    Read More

  • The Black Man's Burden Analysis

    787 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Black Man’s Burden In the late-nineteen century, the term new imperialism became an element of politics implemented by many European powers to impose their supremacy around the globe. Between 1870 and 1914, as a result of the Great Depression (1873-1879), imperialistic powers such as Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium, constructed colonies and protectorates in Asia and Africa in order to exploit their resources and their labor . After the decline of the transatlantic slave trade by the late 1860s, a change occurred around 1880 when France and Britain led European nations in the “scramble of Africa,” which divided the continent from 1880 to 1914. Indeed, after king Leopold II of Belgium conquered most of the Congo River with the excuse of promoting

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Foreign Aid

    1498 Words  | 6 Pages

    The consequence of wars, the political turmoil in countries or simply a country in debt; these all warrant a need for foreign aid. Although it may seem like the obvious act to do, is it really the right thing to do? It is firstly important to note what is the fundamental characteristic of foreign aid and what it entails, both for a country providing and the country receiving it. The aspect of aid can take many forms, ranging from goods and services or capital from foreign country to country in need. As situations in different countries continue to take new forms, aid can also be provided concerning military, economic means, etc.

    Read More

  • Imperialism In 'The Black Man's Burden'

    742 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imperialism is the demonstration of extending a nation's domain through the utilization of power, colonization, or pressure. Amid the hundreds of years, vast and effective European nations, similar to Spain and England, set forth significant push to secure and run different nations and domains. For instance, the colonization and improvement of the United States was begun on the grounds that England needed to grow its realm to new regions that could give it more noteworthy force and assets. In spite of the fact that it has a genuinely straight-forward definition, imperialism is really an extremely muddled procedure that has a tendency to unravel through the span of many reasons and numerous races.

    Read More

  • Lifeboat Ethics Rhetorical Analysis

    1211 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “Learning the hard way” and “ Population control the crude way”, Hardine pointed out a reason that make poor nations can’t become better. The U.S and other rich nations deposited food into the World Food Bank, the poor nations will withdraw the food from it; since the food always “available”, the poor nations will not learn to improve their

    Read More

  • Garrett Hardin Lifeboat Ethics Analysis

    755 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor” (1974), Hardin debates whether rich countries should provide aid to poor countries through food supplies or immigration. Garrett Hardin was a renowned Americans philosopher received his PhD in microbiology from Stanford University. He has written several books and articles that mainly focus on ecology, and throughout his life, has constantly forewarned the world about the risks of overpopulation. Due to his deep understanding of ecology, and due to the intensive research the author has done on this particular topic, Hardin is credible to write an article about this topic. Moreover, Hardin’s main purpose in writing this piece is to persuade the readers, the population of the rich countries and their governments, not to help the poorer countries.

    Read More

More about The White Man's Burden Summary

Open Document