| Unemployment
The existence
of a significant informal sector in the economy leads us to another serious
issue in quite a bunch of less developed countries. The issue I am
rambling about now is unemployment. Let us use South Africa as an illustration
here. According to official statistics, the unemployment rate in South
Africa hovers around twenty five per cent. Everybody who knows the country
and lived or lives there can confirm that this statistic deserves to be
called a whole load of bloody rubbish. Trying to get a more or less realistic
handle on the situation there, the unemployment rate in South Africa presumably
hovers around forty per cent.
Most of the
unemployed there are blacks without any useful qualification or experience.
To quote Paul van Eeden who reflects exactly my stance: I dont think
many people who have not lived in a third world country can fathom what
forty per cent unemployment is like.
Unemployment
often leads to crime. Crime may be the last resort to survive. Crime may
destabilise the entire society. As a consequence, the hoi polloi who form
their world view based on what they see in the box expect the government
to do something, anything. As Ronald Reagan used to say: The
most dangerous words in the English language are Good morning, we are
from the government. We are here to help you.
Even though
South Africa may be an extreme example, the following figures may help
you grasp the consequences of severe unemployment. There are about twenty
thousand murders committed in South Africa every year. To make a comparison,
there were more or less sixteen thousand murders committed in the United
States in 2001, which does not enjoy a reputation for being a peaceful
safe haven. However, the population of Gringolandia is about six times
bigger than the population of South Africa.
Even though
crime seems to be a serious issue in Mexico City and Guadalajara as well,
smaller places in Mexico like Colima do not seriously suffer from it. They
are peaceful and quiet.
By the way,
a rather unusual feature of crime has unfolded during the last ten years
in South Africa, about which you do not hear a bunch in lots of mainstream
media outfits. I am talking about the slaughter of white South African
farmers and their families. During the past ten years, more than one thousand
farmers in South Africa have been killed. To put things a little into perspective,
during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya no more than thirty two civilians
were killed. During the civil war in Rhodesia, which lasted fourteen years,
exactly two hundred and sixty nine white farmers were killed there.
Cooking up
some sort of conspiracy therory may go a little over the top. These farm
murders are likely to be explained by ordinary crime. But they reflect
very badly on South Africa.
You may wonder
how come I am aware of them. Quite simple. I read the right newspapers.
I hardly read German newspapers. They are dreadfully dull and horribly
politically correct. When I do read them every now and then, I usually
envy my feet fallen asleep. My favourite newspapers are The Economist
and The Spectator. Both tend to be radically liberal. In particular,
The Spectator reflects viewpoints that deserve to be summarised
as marvellously politically incorrect.
After keeping
an eye on the election campaign and the election in South Africa, my humble
self reckons that the country does need indeed media that stand for true
independence and political incorrectness. I followed the campaign primarily
be reading articles on that topic in my favourite newspapers and magazines.
The campaign was somewhere in the middle between horribly dull and dreadfully
boring. South African newspapers like Business Day reckon that this assessment
is a good thing because it shows political maturity. I do disagree. I do
not reckon that the boring elections in former East Germany were a good
thing.
Assessment
Taking these
drawbacks into account, is it worth living in a less developed country?
Yes, it is. Of course terms like less developed country, developing
world or emerging markets imply that there is some development
going on or that something is emerging there. To rule a misunderstanding
out, we are talking here about countries like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,
South Africa etc. We are not talking about failed states like Afghanistan
and Somalia. Once more, my answer is an unequivocal yes. However, what
are the reasons for my unequivocal yes?
Based on my
own experience in South Africa and Mexico, there appear to be less rules
and regulations that dominate your life, both privately and professionally.
The individual at least the individual who has something between his
ears that deserves to be called brains often enjoys more freedom in terms
of what you can do and how you can get things done. In a nutshell, there
are more opportunities to make your mark.
To illustrate
the claim with an example, there are a bunch less constraints at colleges
and universities in Mexico as far as curricula are concerned. It means
that you have more freedom to do what and how you want to do things in
the classroom. Needless to mention that this sort of freedom also entails
more responsibility to do things properly. To be a little provocative again,
this sort of freedom is presumably not the cup of tea for folks who how
shall we say are not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Anyway,
your quality of life may improve as well when you shift to the less developed
world. Just leave big cities there like Johannesburg or Mexico City
and the hassles that they entail behind you and you may an enhanced quality
of life. To illustrate it again with an example, one of the things that
yours truly most enjoys is sitting on my roof terrace, watching the sunset
and listening to animals. When you do this sort of thing in the developed
world or in any big city , you enjoy the sound of car alarms.
Do this sort of thing in a more pleasant setting and you can hear insects,
birds and other animals.
There is one
region in Latin America that may offer some ground floor opportunities
for adventuresome folks. The region includes western Brazil, southern Peru,
northern Chile and Bolivia. Goldman Sachs has recently published a study,
which predicts a brilliant future for Brazil. Regretfully, that study has
been ignored to a large extent.
Anyway,
why does that region offer some splendid ground floor opportunities?
Quite simple. The economies of these countries are based on natural resources
and commodities. Western Brazil and eastern Bolivia are situated in the
Amazon basin and are blessed with timber, coffee and cocoa. As far as my
humble self has been able to get a grip on the situation there, a Trans
Oceanic Highway is being constructed, on which these resources and commodities
can be delivered to the coasts of Peru and Chile. Moreover, Bolivia may
turn into a significant natural gas producer. However, that region falls
into the category of a real frontier, which means getting things done there
will take years, not months. But frontiers do offer ground floor opportunities.
As often in
life, it does not make sense to look for guarantees. Instead, look for
opportunities. There is a difference between making a living and making
a life. We have not exhausted our frontiers. We often just fail to recognise
them.
New Latin American
Literature
Students
sometimes ask me what my favourite music is. When I tell them, their
facial expressions clearly indicate that they do not have the foggiest
clue what I am talking about. When I ask them what their favourite music
is, my facial expression presumably tells them that I do not have the foggiest
clue what they are talking about. The music at the few sudents parties
that I blessed with my presence gives me the impression that I may give
that sort of music a miss.
However, things
tend to be a little different with Latin American literature. Latin American
literature made inroads throughout the world with novels that reflect the
magic of tropical worlds. The novel One Hundred Years Of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez may serve as an example for the literary style
called magical realism.
But the wind
of change seems to be blowing. The Mexican writer Jorge Volpi was born
about a year after One Hundred Years Of Solitude was published.
He and fellow Mexican writers e.g. Ignacio Padilla and Eloy Urroz
are developing their own style. They refer to themselves as the
crack generation. They mean by crack generation that
they have abandoned literary conventions that dominated Latin American
literature for quite a while.
It may be worth
keeping an eye on things. Things are happening in the less developed world,
in terms of business and literature and ....
The following
is a list of articles written by Jurgen for the magazine:
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