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COVID-19 Has Blown Away the Myth About 'First' and 'Third' World Competence:
One of the planet's – and Africa's – deepest prejudices is being demolished by the way countries handle COVID-19.
For as long as any of us remember, everyone "knew" that "First World" countries – in effect, Western Europe and North America – were much better at providing their citizens with a good life than the poor and incapable states of the "Third World". "First World" has become shorthand for competence, sophistication and the highest political and economic standards.
[...] So we should have expected the state-of-the-art health systems of the "First World", spurred on by their aware and empowered citizens, to handle COVID-19 with relative ease, leaving the rest of the planet to endure the horror of buckling health systems and mass graves.
We have seen precisely the opposite.
[...] [Britain and the US] have ignored the threat. When they were forced to act, they sent mixed signals to citizens which encouraged many to act in ways which spread the infection. Neither did anything like the testing needed to control the virus. Both failed to equip their hospitals and health workers with the equipment they needed, triggering many avoidable deaths.
The failure was political. The US is the only rich country with no national health system. An attempt by former president Barack Obama to extend affordable care was watered down by right-wing resistance, then further gutted by the current president and his party. Britain's much-loved National Health Service has been weakened by spending cuts. Both governments failed to fight the virus in time because they had other priorities.
And yet, in Britain, the government's popularity ratings are sky high and it is expected to win the next election comfortably. The US president is behind in the polls but the contest is close enough to make his re-election a real possibility. Can there be anything more typically "Third World" than citizens supporting a government whose actions cost thousands of lives?
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Tuesday May 19 2020, @06:28PM (1 child)
You should see how well that strategy worked for the Soviets. I guarantee you they didn't give two shits about killing civilians, and they still failed for exactly the same reason.
The problem with Afghanistan is that there are too many tribes who are too good at scheming with and against each other. WW2 Germany and Japan were cohesive nations. When we cut off their heads, their societies would have completely collapsed without ceding to the invaders. Afghanistan doesn't work like that.
I'm not sure there's any way to conquer Afghanistan without simply killing everyone. A thought against which we must all recoil in horror.
But on a practical level, I also have to ask: why? What's so great about Afghanistan anyway? It seems like the only reason anybody ever cares about invading the place is because it harbors terrorists.
It's not a new problem. Organized nations have always needed to contend with bandits living beyond their reach. Is it reasonable to think we can ever eliminate those wilds? Is that even really a good idea?
The only thing we ever should have done in Afghanistan is send a team of assassins to kill Osama bin Laden, then run the fuck away. All of this "war on terror" bullshit is and always was a costly exercise in futility.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday May 19 2020, @07:10PM
I vaguely recall that the Soviets wanted it for a pipeline to the Gulf oil states. Which is kind of a head-scratcher now, tho must have made sense to someone at the time.
Indeed, the only way to win a war there is too extreme for modern folk to contemplate. Why we'd want it today... well, we don't; as you say its only 'value' is as a nest of terrorists. Agreed on kill bin Laden then run away; there's nothing worth our while to fight over. Let them kill one another as they please; that's nothing new, and we can't stop it anyway. Secure the borders between them and us to keep the bandits out, kill those that refuse to respect that boundary, and that's about all you can reasonably do.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.