Re: a to-do list for the next century

From: hal@finney.org
Date: Fri Mar 24 2000 - 16:51:03 MST


Rob Sweeney, <rjs@rsie.com>, writes:
> So - how about the Revolution Foundation? A well-funded group develops
> both a business plan - and an invasion plan - for a target country. The
> ineffective leadership is forced out in one way or another. The group
> comes in with sufficient resources (mostly trained staff, this isn't to
> be another throw-money-away venture) to build up needed institutions -
> courts, schools, etc. Our favorite sort of minimal-interference,
> market-respecting government is instituted. It doesn't have to be
> democratic, day one likely it can't be. >Now< buy the land. Sit
> back and wait.

Well, that's thinking outside the box, Rob, I'll grant you that...

Part of the problem is that there is a reason why those governments are
so bad. They are in a position to enrich themselves, and few people
have the willpower to resist such temptation. You might not have such
an easy time installing your favorite sort of government, without them
succumbing to the lures of easy wealth.

There's also the question of whether the indiginous population would
welcome the reinstatement of imperialist external rule. Most of those
countries worked hard to throw off the yoke of Western colonialism.
Economically many countries are worse off, but it would be a terrible
blow to their pride to ask for the hated rulers to come back in and
start running things again.

Hal



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