THE INTERRELATION OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCEThe Asian and African countries’ economic backwardness and poverty are a legacy of prolonged imperialist colonial rule. An overwhelming number of these countries still retain a mono-crop economy or a lopsided economy which is distinguished by an over-development of the extracting industries. After World War II, this abnormal state has become still more aggravated in a number of countries because of intensified activities by old and new colonialists. In these countries, the output—in terms of money—of a few agricultural products and/or minerals often accounts for some 60 to 70 per cent of the total national output and 50 to over 90 per cent of all exports. Also, as many as 50 to 80 per cent of the labouring population in these countries are engaged in producing primary products. What is more, about three-fourths of the mono-products exported by these countries depend on some individual imperialist country as the buyer. At the same time these countries rely on the imperialist countries to supply them with most of the industrial goods needed for economic construction and to sustain the people’s livelihood. Still worse, they have to rely on the imperialist countries, primarily the United States, for such a vital commodity as food grain, which is a prime necessity for the people. Statistics reveal that in recent years Asian and African countries have been importing some 20 million tons of food grain annually. Such a colonial economic structure—marked by mono-product economy and mono-market outlet—actually constitutes the economic basis for imperialist colonial control and exploitation. Unless this abnormal structure is demolished, it is impossible for the Asian and African countries (and also the Latin American countries) to get rid of their economic dependence on the imperialist countries. EXTRACT FROM ARTICLE
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 17:43:43 +0000
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