Chris+Knortz+Matrix+1

Poverty is a problem that has plagued cultures for all of history, even now modern society has not been able to make significant decreases in poverty is much of the world. Two of the most notable places stricken with [|poverty] are southern Africa, and South America. In 2005 72% of population in sub-Saharan Africa lived on $2/day. There is show some level of reduction however not much, in 1981 the 73% of population lived on less than $2/day. The reasons for poverty consuming entire continents are complicated and deeply engrained into the social and economic conditions of the country. For many of these areas it began with colonialism. European nations would settle the new land and establish and economic system to remove natural resources. After WWII this was abandoned and many countries were re-nationalization, giving power back to the natives. However many places were left with no sound governing body allowing corruption and dictatorship to flourish. The western remedy to some of these problems has been the investments of the World Bank. The bank currently [|lends] about $20 billion/year, much of this is provided by member countries. For many developing nations the bank is seen as a great source of knowledge on the art of development. The World Bank has worked to bring nations out of poverty for several decades, however many of its polices believed to ensure repayment and sound development have been see to promote the opposite in the nations receiving loans. Many of the countries become burdened with [|debt]. Between 1984 and 1990 $178 billion went to western banks from developing countries. Member countries can impose requirements on funds, these requirements are aimed to ensure the repayment of loans, not always long standing development for the people. One such example would be the land division policies in [|Southern Africa], “… it soon became clear that the World Bank is imposing a virtually identical set of policies on widely different countries, without regard for their unique histories, cultures, or patterns of land use.” Much of the power and financial backing for the World Bank comes from the U.S. Policies and influence have been used to ensure American economic growth and standard of living. This often sacrifices the lively hoods and happiness of other peoples through corrupt polices. In the 1980’s the U.S. launched [|Low Intensity Conflicts] with countries in South America, this is a form of economic warfare. President Richard Nixon once stated “…(we will) make the Chilean economy scream." These polices later hastened the removal of President Allende and establishment of General Augusto Pinochet into Chile. Pinochet became a brutal dictator killing almost 30,000 of his own people. This change in leadership did provide the U.S. an inexpensive source of labor and resources. After decades of poor polices by the World Bank and other western nations, poverty in many areas of the world has not changed. This has created larger problems for the world economy is now forced to deal with by supporting nations and insufficient governments. For a time these polices allowed for inexpensive labor and resources which benefited these institutions in power, now that time may be at an end. The develop world is seeing the devastation of its selfish policy and short sighted development.