When faced with the brutal and tragic reality of poverty around the world, humanitarians are compelled to act and earnestly ask, “What must we do to end global poverty?” Despite the sincerity of many experts, common development practices utilize authoritarian means which trample on the individual rights of the people afflicted by poverty. Easterly calls the reader to debate the merits of these methods against their counter—free development, which holds liberty, rather than economic stability, as the ultimate end.
The first facet of the development debate is examining the Blank Slate approach, as opposed to considering and learning from history. In 1850, the infant mortality rate in the United States of America was nearly twice the worst infant mortality rates in the world today (192). However, this tragedy was solved not by a centrally directed plan, but by innovation and discovery, such as the germ theory of disease. The climb of the United Sates toward prosperity was the result of many individual triumphs that emerged unplanned. Authoritarian development claims that …show more content…
Most convincing to the side of free development is Easterly’s argument for the fundamental necessity of individual rights. Recognizing liberty as an end in itself, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cried “free at last,” not “middle class at last” (340). Poverty is not the root problem, but rather an inevitable consequence of systemic oppression. While the pragmatic approach of working with unethical leaders toward humanitarian ends may initially appear beneficial, it comes with the cost of furthering and entrenching the cycles of mistrust and oppression from which poverty
The first facet of the development debate is examining the Blank Slate approach, as opposed to considering and learning from history. In 1850, the infant mortality rate in the United States of America was nearly twice the worst infant mortality rates in the world today (192). However, this tragedy was solved not by a centrally directed plan, but by innovation and discovery, such as the germ theory of disease. The climb of the United Sates toward prosperity was the result of many individual triumphs that emerged unplanned. Authoritarian development claims that …show more content…
Most convincing to the side of free development is Easterly’s argument for the fundamental necessity of individual rights. Recognizing liberty as an end in itself, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cried “free at last,” not “middle class at last” (340). Poverty is not the root problem, but rather an inevitable consequence of systemic oppression. While the pragmatic approach of working with unethical leaders toward humanitarian ends may initially appear beneficial, it comes with the cost of furthering and entrenching the cycles of mistrust and oppression from which poverty