It is time to put the thorny issue of culture at the center of efforts to tackle global poverty. Why is Haiti so poor? Like most of the world’s poorest nations, it suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences, such as the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures, but some cultures are more progress-resistant than others. The programs that really work involve intrusive paternalism; replace parts of the local culture with a highly demanding, highly intensive culture of achievement. - David Brooks, The New York Times (nyti.ms/61a3Y4)
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 02:16:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015