tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24111352.post114253202649466765..comments2023-10-28T10:47:07.880+02:00Comments on Kelly's Think Tank: Trade is a prerequisite for lasting peaceKelly Odellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989232356107905689noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24111352.post-1148953885861202972006-05-30T03:51:00.000+02:002006-05-30T03:51:00.000+02:00A couple of points:Exclusion from the global econo...A couple of points:<BR/><BR/>Exclusion from the global economy -- given that most of the 9/11 hijackers, for instance, were relatively well-off and well educated, I'd suggest that the poverty that radicalized them was not economic. Rather, it was exactly the Maslowian poverties you mention elsewhere: humiliation at being part of a society that cannot succeed in the global economy and rage at being denied a seat at the global table of ideas.<BR/><BR/>And you're right -- this is absolutely not a call for charity. Charity has failed miserably across the globe and particularly in the middle east, where it has backfired spectacularly. <BR/><BR/>I believe the roots of the current problem lie with the founding of the Western-led resource-extraction companies. For what were at the time logical reasons, those companies kept the knowledge work -- the fun part -- for themselves and their cronies, leaving the locals to play only two roles: exploited slave labor and corrupt, easily bribed government official. <BR/><BR/>Imagine if those companies had chosen to fill the lower- and middle-management jobs with locals, who could then have had a chance to develop a broader middle class, with cosmopolitan, middle-class values. I doubt if their best and brightest would have concluded that the best thing they could do with their lives was blow up buildings halfway across the world.<BR/><BR/>Now, of course, we know that just clearing away oppressive regimes will not bring empowerment to the people. So what will?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com