PIGFACE POINT TOUR PICTURES; Set 7.
Coming back up to the main house.
The Simpler Way is about liberating ourselves from many oppressive aspects of consumer-capitalist society, especially the fact that it makes us work about three times too hard…to pay high costs for many things we would not need if we lived simply and within local economies, including expensive big houses and transportation of food into our areas. The verse on the sign beside Peter Pan reads,
Peter Pan is laughing at you and me,
He wants to know how can it be,
We work so hard to produce and get,
All the things we want, and yet
We could spend most of each day,
As he does, in adventure and play.
Main windmill, on 17 metre tower, home made.
This display indicates some basic elements in conventional development theory and practice, and contrasts it with Appropriate development. In conventional development there is only development of those ventures that will make more profit for corporations than any other they can find anywhere else in the world. They never make good profits producing things that poor countries need! They develop industries that will ship out the poor countries resources to rich world super markets, and put their cheap labour into producing goods to export to us. The display points to land being put into export crops, minerals being exported, fish being caught and taken away, tourism which creates few jobs.
Appropriate development would make sure that the existing and usually abundant resources of land, forests, labour, and skill, and indeed capital, were used by the people to produce what they most need. This would be a disaster for the corporations and the consumers in rich countries, because we would not get all that wealth.
Appropriate development is prevented, firstly by the normal operation of the global economy, because it allows market forces to determine what is developed, that is, it allows development to be determined by what will maximize profits. It is always most profitable to develop what consumers in rich countries want.
Secondly, poor countries are deliberately prevented by the World Bank and IMF from practicing Appropriate development. The conditions on their loans expressly prohibit the country’s resources and labour being devoted to their most urgent needs. There must be maximum freedom for market forces, which means the only development that can take place is that which some corporation thinks will make profits. If the government wanted to provide land so poor people could grow food for themselves that would be ruled out as “interfering with market forces”. So again the only development permitted is that which suits corporations.
The rich countries have a long record of using force and violence to keep poor countries to the conventional development path, supporting dictators willing to rule as we want, organizing assassinations and coups, providing arms to regimes to keep their people under control, and invading. Any country that tries to depart from a development path that does not suit the rich countries is likely to find itself identified as “communist”, a “rogue state”, or harbouring terrorists, etc., and subject to heavy pressure to conform…including having its trade and loans threatened.
The goal of conventional development is absurdly impossible. There are nowhere near enough resources for the Third World’s people to rise to the “living standards” the rich countries have. This absurdity is almost never questioned by conventional development theory. The theory obviously enshrines the kind of approach to development that suits the rich world and exploits the Third World.
For the detail;
Third world development; Short account, MAIN ACCOUNT, Collection of documentary evidence.
The Nature and Functioning of Your Empire: Short account. MAIN account. Documentary evidence.
This is the half way point in the tour. Time for a cuppa in the Tea House.
End of Set 7.