Another activist makes an ass of himself

[Justice 0]

It DOES matter whether corruption begets poverty or poverty begets corruption.  If corruption-->poverty then giving aid to Africa is useless, as you have suggested.  If poverty-->corruption (which the map would seem to indicate) then we can help countries become less corrupt by helping them develop economically.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm not sure how the map indicates one or the other... I mean, maybe I'm missing how one can beget the other only through the map because all the red countries have been corrupt for a while, thusly they'd all still be in poverty. I dunno, I'm just not seeing the definite correlation.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Oh I certainly don't think there's a direct correlation nor am I suggesting that the map proves any causation, but it just seems to indicate that if your country is more developed, then it is less likely to be corrupt. Of course, it could be the case that if your country is less corrupt then it is more likely to be developed. But many of the countries that are "light-colored" now were more corrupt at some point in the past, but as they have developed, they have become less so.

 

And, I3K, I wouldn't call Saudi developed. It of course has great oil wealth, but it is politically and socially backward.

 

And to answer your question about the map:

 

1. What is the Corruption Perceptions Index?

The TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data in expert surveys carried out by a variety of reputable institutions. It reflects the views of business people and analysts from around the world, including experts who are locals in the countries evaluated.

 

 

 

2. For the purpose of the CPI, how is corruption defined?

The CPI focuses on corruption in the public sector and defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain. The surveys used in compiling the CPI ask questions that relate to the misuse of public power for private benefit, with a focus, for example, on bribe-taking by public officials in public procurement. The sources do not distinguish between administrative and political corruption or between petty and grand corruption.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Iceland is least corrupt? Dunno, man. I've heard bad things about the Althing.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Okay fine, I just wanted to say 'Althing.' It sure beats 'Duma' and 'Diet.' I hope they try to approve a bill for a George Harrison memorial in Reykjavik. They can lobby for it with the slogan "Althings Must Pass!"

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Why, how, and wherefore do you know about Iceland's parliament?

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'm just full of surprises.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

bigolsmitty, I understand Saudi Arabia is socially backward (as are most Muslim nations), but it certainly isn't a poor country, at least since oil was discovered there. I may be somewhat ignorant, but I've been under the impression that most people there live fairly comfortably (although not compared to the royal family, of course).

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Per capita income is about $8,000 and I'd say that's highly concentrated, especially given the prevalence of human trafficking and low-wage labor in Saudi.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Christians didn't fuck up the planet.

 

I don't get how anyone can not notice that the effects of Europeans' spreading out and advancing themselves have already shown to have many long-term negatives. Imagine how beautiful this place probably was before the Industrial Revolution. We're trying to take these sorts of things into account with any kind of new development or technology now, but years and years and years of accelerated wear on the planet have done a lot of damage already. The initiative is there, and we're gaining some new perspective on things thanks to advancements before it. All in all, we had to destroy the planet to make it totally efficient, if that makes any sense.

 

And that's looking at this from an environmental perspective.

 

S'far as the colonizing of the world went, it's not like anyone's really still doing that anymore (economic colonialism is way easier, and less bloody), so whitey gets off the hook on that one too. I don't hold anyone alive responsible for anything in the last 50 years or so.

 

Saying something happened in the past, like "White people ruined the world" is completely fair, given history and what we're discovering about our ecosystem. It isn't "white people are ruining the world."

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I'd agree that colonization of Africa had negative impacts on human rights and based on ridiculous borders that drew many competing tribes together, BUT I think it was the fault of the world as to how colonialism ended negatively. After all, look to the Beligan Congo where Europeans were told by the world to LEAVE by activists IMMEDIATELY so the end result is they didn't leave an infrastructure for Africans to deal with. Also, a lot of these countries for better or worse NEED white people to teach them the tools to create a stable government since they've had little experience with these kind of bureaucracies. Unfortunately, though, as we've seen in South Africa since 1994 and in areas like Zimbabwe is that there is a massive "white flight" from the region which has been detrimental to Africa. Thus, the Europeans definitely screwed things up, but once again they haven't been the only people holding AFrica back.

 

Finally, I'd say that a big problem with the black community in the U.S. today lies on an educational deficit. Black women seem to be doing well for themselves quickly outpacing black men in going to college, but black men seem to be the large group who is falling behind. A lot of it has been shown through research to do with a negative attitude towards education or that becoming very educated is "trying to be white", but you can't succeed in any country, more or less a democracy that is moving forward in an informationally based economy, without a good level of education. Therefore, in order to correct problems in the status quo the black community has to do a better job getting its young males educated because only then will the community be able to pull itself up and end the stereotypes other peoples and groups have for them.

 

Oh yea, and this idiot talking about the extermination of white people should NEVER have gotten any air time in the first place and never should again. However, I'd bet that this won't get much play in the New York Times or something unlike if a white person had been calling for the extermination of blacks or some Jews calling for the extermination of Arabs.

[Justice 0]

I don't get how anyone can not notice that the effects of Europeans' spreading out and advancing themselves have already shown to have many long-term negatives. Imagine how beautiful this place probably was before the Industrial Revolution. We're trying to take these sorts of things into account with any kind of new development or technology now, but years and years and years of accelerated wear on the planet have done a lot of damage already. The initiative is there, and we're gaining some new perspective on things thanks to advancements before it. All in all, we had to destroy the planet to make it totally efficient, if that makes any sense.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Kotz, you've officially become an f'n moron.

 

Europeans branching out had a negative effect? Aren't they responsible for bringing advanced civilization to a decent portion of the world? Oops, forgot about that one.

 

Alright, the Industrial Revolution ruined the world? You're joking, right? Someone call Frank Zappa Mask, we want to live in Walt Whitman's America!

 

If not for the Industrial Revolution, we wouldn't be where we are today. To act as though human development would just STOP before the Industrial age. If you are gonna fault Europeans for it, understand that the Industrial Revolution was basically an unstoppable historical event: It was gonna happen no matter what. Thinking that Europe is somehow responsible for it and that the entire world would be better off from it is just plain stupid. If not for the Industrial Revolution, we wouldn't have the technology to stop most of the diseases we have today. Yellow Fever and Influenza anyone?

 

You have this weird idea that if 'Whitey' had never done anything, things would have gone on in peace and harmony, which is the most idealistic bullshit I've ever heard. Humans are humans; if you really believe in all the equality stuff out there, you'd understand that there is nothing too genetically different about a European compared to an African. If the Europeans hadn't done it, the Asians would have, or the Africans would have eventually.

 

However, I'd bet that this won't get much play in the New York Times or something unlike if a white person had been calling for the extermination of blacks or some Jews calling for the extermination of Arabs.

 

A white public official nearly had to give up his office because he said 'Niggered' in the correct context. It isn't as though it's being spread across the first page of a newspaper here.

[Special K 0]

'Niggardly. ' And yes, that was fucking horendous. The made me so, so pissed off. Hey, let's just make entire syllables off limits. Spic and Span. Honky Tonk. Nip in the bud. A Chink in the armor. The Daygobah system. (or however the fuck you spell it.)

People need to grow the fuck up and see that racism shouldn't really be the number one issue in the country. White people want to kill you? News flash: white people make up something like 80% of the population. If they really wanted to kill you so bad, it would have been done decades ago. Learn to think before you open you stupid fucking mouth, cocksucker.

 

Still, I reckon that this guy is taken seriously by approximately no one.

[Zorin Industries 0]

I use a computer system called WOPS.

 

Just sayin'

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Government corruption is more likely caused by an abundance of easily accessible and valuable natural resources.

--Fareed Zakaria, NewsWeek News Editor (current)

 

Basically, where the government can extract its income without dealing with people, it is corrupt and the people are poor. Where the government must deal with people to extract its income, the government is less corrupt and the people are richer.

[Special K 0]

Spanish-speaking people are hella racist, y'all. They're always saying negro.

 

Christ, there was a poster here years ago, when the Lord of the Rings movies were first coming out, who said JR Tolkien was raycist because he 'actually used the word niggardly.'

 

He was properly torn a new asshole.

[BruiserKC 0]

OK, because it's been brought up, I need to weigh in.

 

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a racist. I believe the US is the greatest nation on earth, and that there's room for people of all races and colors within our borders.

 

That said, the black movement is irrelevant in this country at this point in history, and idiots like that aren't doing it any favors. I'm sorry, but slavery ended almost 150 years ago. It's time to stop blaming the slavemaster and start looking at what your own people are doing to better themselves. Yes, there is still racism. But clearly many blacks are so mind numbingly racist against whites that they can't look at their own problems. Furthermore, the black race isn't even the biggest minority in this country anymore (Hispanics are), so the unfortunate reality is that black causes will move further and further into the background.

 

You want to exterminate white people? OK...what have black nations done lately that is so great? What have they contributed to the world? Look at Africa, the natural bastion of the black race...it is a literal checker board of tribalism and dictatorships. Many peoples on that continent haven't even advanced past the stages of basic hunter/gathering.

 

Sure, the Europeans did a lot of harm by colonizing Africa, supposedly. But one fact that is never brought up is that the Europeans brought many things like literacy, and irradicated disease. Many of those same diseases that were nearly wiped out by the Europeans have come back because the Africans have regressed so badly.

 

Look at what happened in Rhodesia...it was a country created by whites, and was moving toward integration of blacks. But, the blacks decided they didn't want that and replaced it with Robert Mugabe's dictatorship. More than 25 years later, the people of Zimbabwe still are not free. Do you still want to pretend that black nations somehow have some sort of moral superiority to the USA, when that continent is full of examples similar to the one I just illustrated?

 

At some point blacks in the US need to pull themselves up. I understand that even in the '50s and '60s in the US, blacks were discriminated against and segregation was a harsh reality. But what about since then? Do blacks want the white man to pull them up, or do they want to pull themselves up? What are they doing about their own self destructive culture that glorifies violence and shuns education? Not enough, apparently.

 

Maybe it is jealousy. White people, starting in Europe, created new inventions and changed the world, and made their societies better. Yes, attrocities were commited as Europeans advanced, and often indiginous peoples died off or were driven away, but that has happened repeatedly throughout history in every corner of the world. To say otherwise is being close minded.

 

African nations still ask for handouts and do nothing to make their nations better themselves. It's not enough to point fingers and blame nature. At some point you have to do something for yourself. Sure, we could give them more money, but it inevitably goes to feed a dictator's army, or to fund terrorists, or into a monarch's coffers. We Americans are sick of our money being used to help other countries.

 

Someone should punish this Kamau Kambon person who made those remarks. They are completely divisive, and do nothing to advance the cause of his own people. Clearly he has some kind of mental disorder. It just goes to show how far to the left some parts of the black community have gone in 2005.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The civil rights movement still has relevance in today's society. The problem are people like the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Farrakhan who twist it to meet their own ends. They're race-pimps. They play the race card to get their way...that's not what Dr. King had in mind.