“An explosion of child deaths” - I will never forget coming across this phrase in a piece by Michelle Williams, the then dean of Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, in the FT in November 2022 on the occasion of COP27 in Egypt. It was at a moment when many of us were discussing the polycrisis as a concept with which to grasp the current world. Was an explosion of child deaths the ultimate indicator of crisis?
I submit that the polycrisis and the resulting danger and underdevelopment in the Central African Republic and far too many other places are the inevitable product of our reigning culture of indifference, or downright opposition, to the well-being of others.
We need to replace the ethos of competition with standard-of-living-focused solidarity, economic sharing and cooperation, and non-violent dispute resolution.
A state, national or society is invaded and conquered.
This is done in a context in which borders are created that fully ignore the relationships of the people living there.
The preexisting state and society are completely destroyed, the people complete subjugate except for such native leaders who might be co-opted to serve the conquerors.
After some period of maximum exploitation and literal extraction, the conqueror walks away without preparing the conquered people for independence, without in any meaningful way filling the vacuum that created by the conquest.
The conqueror and their allies then continue the exploitation by other means.
So. How does one expect anything but something of a disaster, at least by western standards?
Never even heard of this country. The entire world is becoming balkanized. There are a few countries which are too large to govern and a great many which are too small for efficiency.
Thanks for this, I'd heard of the CAR before, but had no idea of this catastrophe.
I wonder if our concerns about "lack of public awareness" and the desperate attempts by aid agencies and NGO's to "increase public awareness" is itself a symptom of chronic under-resourcing of the UN, especially by wealthy countries that could afford to pay more?
My local police department, for example, responds to crimes even when I don't know about them. They may make an effort to "raise awareness" about crime, but their budget isn't dependent on public awareness, the city council votes them a more-than-adequate budget whether the public is aware or not.
But with the greatest human catastrophes in the world, it seems like the model is "Sorry, if you can't inspire a Live Aid concert, then you're out of luck."
I submit that the polycrisis and the resulting danger and underdevelopment in the Central African Republic and far too many other places are the inevitable product of our reigning culture of indifference, or downright opposition, to the well-being of others.
We need to replace the ethos of competition with standard-of-living-focused solidarity, economic sharing and cooperation, and non-violent dispute resolution.
A hypothetical of sorts:
A state, national or society is invaded and conquered.
This is done in a context in which borders are created that fully ignore the relationships of the people living there.
The preexisting state and society are completely destroyed, the people complete subjugate except for such native leaders who might be co-opted to serve the conquerors.
After some period of maximum exploitation and literal extraction, the conqueror walks away without preparing the conquered people for independence, without in any meaningful way filling the vacuum that created by the conquest.
The conqueror and their allies then continue the exploitation by other means.
So. How does one expect anything but something of a disaster, at least by western standards?
Never even heard of this country. The entire world is becoming balkanized. There are a few countries which are too large to govern and a great many which are too small for efficiency.
Thanks for this, I'd heard of the CAR before, but had no idea of this catastrophe.
I wonder if our concerns about "lack of public awareness" and the desperate attempts by aid agencies and NGO's to "increase public awareness" is itself a symptom of chronic under-resourcing of the UN, especially by wealthy countries that could afford to pay more?
My local police department, for example, responds to crimes even when I don't know about them. They may make an effort to "raise awareness" about crime, but their budget isn't dependent on public awareness, the city council votes them a more-than-adequate budget whether the public is aware or not.
But with the greatest human catastrophes in the world, it seems like the model is "Sorry, if you can't inspire a Live Aid concert, then you're out of luck."
This is just more of the same. No solutions without arms. Humanity has such a long way to go. I hope we have time to make it.