Interesting stuff to think about as I consider more and more what I might be doing in the Peace Corps. Although its only somewhat related.
I think that the video of Bill Clinton admitting he messed up is pretty crazy.
"When the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in December 2004, killing more than a quarter-million people, the great global humanitarian machine sprung to life. First on the list of donations, of course, was food — bags of food began arriving by airlift and sea, especially into Aceh, the hardest-hit region.
But was it the right kind of aid? The Acehnese who lost their livelihoods needed food, but there was actually plenty of food to be bought. Indonesia’s foreign minister told the world not to send rice. The coast had been devastated, but not far inland life was normal— in fact, harvests had been excellent. What was disrupting the food market was not the tsunami, but the sacks of rice that were coming in. So many people were getting rice for free that local markets couldn’t sell it. Farmers were undercut and supply chains fell apart.
“It seemed counterproductive to ship in commodities and undermine local producers,” said Gawain Kripke, director of policy for Oxfam America. “Shipping in food was doing more harm than good.”
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