 | Ceri Dingle Director, WorldWrite [1] | |||
CORRUPTION! THE ALLEGATION trips off the lips of commentators across the board. Are corrupt greedy regimes and war lords in the Third World really so widespread that aid is a waste of time as it ‘never gets to those who need it’? No, but our obsession with corruption is endemic.
When we give friends birthday presents do we apply conditions, dictate their use, and check up on them? Hopefully not. Apparently giving to the Third World is different: these people simply can’t be trusted. How sad that we think so little of our peers. We now put so many conditions on giving anything we might as well not call it ‘aid’ at all - rather ‘small rewards for doing what we prescribe if you can prove you are very good children and only use your rewards to do as we say’. There is no evidence of a sudden Third World corruption pandemicFunny really, as that used to be called ‘bribery’, which is what the developing world is apparently riddled with. There is no evidence of a sudden Third World corruption pandemic but apparently that’s because corruption is ‘hidden’. This is the perfect modern panic; like CJD, it might be everywhere and just because we can’t find it doesn’t mean it isn’t spreading. Like most modern panics the obsession and fear do more damage than the thing we are supposed to worry about. The incessant babble about corruption demonises developing countries, denies them aid, puts off donors and investors and justifies so much interference that poor countries hardly have a chance to run their own affairs. Perhaps worst of all it suggests corruption is the cause of poverty. This is a lie. Better-off people in developing countries are not a criminal underworld or the cause of a majority going without. Lack of development is the problem. It is time to trust people and ditch the corruptababble or we really will end up ensuring millions stay poor. > More features [1] > Watchdog articles [1] |