Friday, December 18, 2015

"The only thing worse than an expert...

...is someone who thinks they are an expert." -- Aly A. Colon

"The problem of poverty is not a problem of experts, it is a problem of rights." --Pablo Munoz

Unfortunately, aid 'experts' often empower dysfunctional elements of the ruling establishment. This dis-empowers the people who have few rights.

Welcome to the world of I/NGO's operating with little oversight.
Transparency and hard evidence are difficult to come by with expats working to effect change in far flung lands.
Transparency and hard evidence are kindly requested of foreigners who feel the unquenchable need to try to effect change in far flung lands. Especially, now in Nepal more than ever with billions of 'aid' dollars at stake--disturbingly, that amount could potentially scar Nepal indelibly if in the hands of the wrong people. And it looks likely that it will wind up with the usual suspects, bullies with undeserved privilege and with the best interests of themselves and their personal entourage first.

Certainly there are foreign agents having a positive effect. They deserve a lot of credit for their hard work. From, anecdotal experience, these I/NGOs and exceptional individuals are extremely rare. Many if not most foreigners fall into the syndrome of longer expat is in Nepal, less knows about country while believing knows more. Despite the best of intentions, the cultural ethos has been severely damaged and a long-suffering people continues to face lethal effects of poor governance. 

Without transparency and hard evidence, then who has the time and energy to investigate and stand up to a prurient ‘confederacy of dunces’? Even if someone had the time, energy and interest of mind to track such an insidious situation and phalanx of accomplices, virtually all who are involved don’t see the light and will likely never see the light…intent on perpetuating a dysfunctional system that harms millions upon millions of innocent people.

From my observations in Nepal, foreign 'aid' is a main impediment to liberal democracy and development.

Like it or not, good intentions or not, aware or ignorant of their effects, blood is thereby on the hands of many aid entrepreneurs for the suffering caused by endowing a dysfunctional system and ruling establishment that oppresses the majority and begets chronic poverty and drives hazardous behavior of the people including emigration overseas to places where they do not have representation...approximately thirty Nepalis a month returning home in body bags having died while working abroad.


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