A Third World Mind Set

I work and live with a good many people from third world countries and often wonder why their homelands are third world countries. You could blame it on finance, or on lack or resources, but it often isn't either one. Mexico, for instance, is large and rich in resources. But if you mention the state of things there, the conversation inevitably goes right to the subject of corruption. The corrupt government keeps the country in disarray and prevents any progress.

So why do third world countries favor corruption decade after decade? My own hypothesis is that it is not linked to scarce resources etc but to a mindset. The mind set among a lot of the downtrodden third world population is cynicism. Every thing goes immediately to the lowest common denominator. I was raised by a father with heavy Native American roots, we grew up the way his father grew up with no electricity or running water. Water was hauled from the nearest available source. Our house was a series of different travel trailers over the years parked on some parcel of land in a remote aria or just out in the desert. We never had much money, so used clothing and scavenged materials were how we made ends meet. I have first hand knowledge of life under 3rd world conditions and I can tell you that a cynical attitude feeds the syndrome.

A lot of the people I know from Mexico talk just like my father. Education is for other people. If you're not brilliant you don't belong in school. The cynical beat down attitude pervades their thinking about this subject like many others. The assumption is, that they couldn't keep up if they were in school, or smarter students will just trample them any way, so why bother. Their lot, is to throw hay bails around for the rest of their life. If there is any one sure way to stay ignorant it's to give up on education. Once you pull the plug on that you pull the plug on a lot of your personal progress.

This attitude shows up in subjects like women's rights as well. Just try telling some one with a cynical eye to nature that women can be equals. They will always believe that women are naturally locked into their positions as housekeepers and diaper changers.

It's in their nature and nothing we can do will change that. One woman I know from a third world aria insists that well fair programs are responsible for women leaving their husbands and breaking up families. If the women had no where else to go, the families would say together (never mind that some of these women are getting their brains beaten out and no thought to women supporting themselves and having a life.) Again their head is right down in the dirt making the lowest assumption possible these people wouldn't dare to dream if their life depended on it. For them, to dream of a better world is to let your attention drift from the day-to-day struggle for survival and wind up a statistic. Their view of racial equality is pretty much the same thing. Racism abounds among them.

You can take that attitude and apply it to politics to. The general view of the hierarchy is that those on top stay on top and every one else is pretty much doomed. Now, if some rebel comes along and takes over, they immediately began to engage in the behavior of their predecessor. All this is simply another manifestation of the cynical, might makes right attitude. "I'm the top dog now so I'm going to reap the rewards" that is, of course until some other idiot picks up a kalashnikov out in the jungle somewhere and the whole thing starts over again. All due to the fact that some joker can't be socially responsible and full fill their role as leader because they can't get past a cynical attitude

The only way to ever beat this is to go to the younger generation and some how reach them with modern ideas of fairness and equality. To break down the old order of mafia style leadership and racial and gender inequality. If we can some how get to the young with as much education as possible and keep them from swallowing their parents poison perhaps there is hope for third world countries.