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I’m a great advocate of teaching men to fish. That is, as opposed to giving them fish. With few exceptions, any man who does not know how to fish, no matter how many fish he is given, will end up going hungry again. Such is Bill Gates’ insight into the problem of hunger in Africa. True, hunger is only one of the many, many problems in Africa, but you have to start from the ground up. Bill and Melinda Gates, in association with the Rockefeller Foundation, have formed the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, aimed at helping Africans improve their farming techniques and technology rather than simply giving them money and food. The purpose is, as Melinda Gates puts it, “…to help millions of the most vulnerable people in Africa lift themselves out of poverty.” Key words? “Lift themselves.” Teaching Africans to fish. No change forced upon a society can have lasting results; they must come to it by their own will and effort. Africans will never rise from hunger and poverty by having food and clothes thrown at them. What we need to give them is the process, not the end result. Africa must develop through their own effort and industry, but we can certainly help them along the way.

We’ve seen most of the world get considerably wealthier over the last decade. Of course the glowing example is China, where what used to be considered wealthy is now common. Africa, however, is a frustrating anomaly. A problem which I, for once, will not declare that capitalism can solve. At least not yet. Even if multinational corporations setting up shop in Africa were to provide wages above sustenance level, economic progress is negligible if your government is corrupt and ineffective at providing a stable banking system and reliable regulatory environment. Nobody saves if inflation and crime are likely to wipe out those savings. Slow progress is no progress if you have civil wars that wipe out the infrastructure every decade.

As much as we’d all love to see the worst African nations become global players, or even be able to grow enough to be considered remotely adequate, the African economy is not the first problem in line, and couldn’t be addressed before the others anyway. The first is hunger- creating food production with substantial local results, so it doesn’t need to be delivered through a broken economy with a corrupt government. Greater crop yields will help the economy when Africa reaches that stage, but right now, people simply need food. The next problems: corruption and violence. I couldn’t even begin to say how we address these problems. If history is any basis for a guess, then once Africa is able to produce more and lift itself further out of poverty, intolerance and violence will begin to decline. Corruption? Well as we’ve seen in Iraq, lasting beneficial changes to a government can’t be forced by foreign powers. The best we can do is support political parties in favor of fair and honest governments and let the people of Africa make that happen themselves. I’m no expert on social or political matters, but I can tell you that with greater production in a stable landscape with a fair and responsible government, economic growth will occur. In many years, African nations may begin to become forces in the global market. However, this is a point which Africans must come to through their endeavor. Until then, the best thing we can do is teach them to fish.

Capitalism in the Former East Berlin, originally uploaded by fboosman.

The wall closing off East Berlin from the world has long since been torn down, and the effects of the entrance of capitalism are very apparent. West and East Berlin provided a vivid portrait of the contrast between capitalism and communism. While West Berlin was a prosperous center of business and trade, East Berlin was a destitute, rubble-filled shell of a city filled with oppressed and frightened people. The difference can be well seen in the difference between the two sides of the Wall: the western side being brightly painted and the eastern side remaining an untouched off-white. When the wall fell and Germany was reunited, not only was East Berlin open to the wealth of West Berlin, but to the wealth of the world. Though, out of tradition, certain socialist philosophers are still honored in Germany, the effects of globalization can be seen as foreign wealth enters Germany and changes eastern Berlin from the squalid wreck it was under communist rule to the bright commercial center it is today.

A common misconception about capitalism is that one man’s gain is another man’s loss. The goal of global capitalism is not to create one dominating super power, but to level the playing field and develop third world countries with first world capital. With the disappearance of oppression in the marketplace, oppression in society will disappear as well. Through international business, social issues are solved. Look at what globalization has done for India and China already. As capitalism spreads through the world and countries develop, people begin to recognize their individual rights and pressure their government to allow them the freedom they need to be successful in business and happy in life. Economic freedom and social freedom go hand in hand. Through the power and influence of international business, governmental oppression will disappear by the will of those who wish to join the world economy.

The simple truth is this: the wealthiest countries have historically been capitalist countries. When people turn to capitalism, their standards of living instantly improve. The beneficial effects of globalization are being demonstrated already in impoverished parts of the world as they become wealthier and their economies become more efficient. Areas where famine once killed so many now have plenty because of the free market and widespread exchange of goods. On that note, ask yourself: how many famines have there been under a capitalist system?

Globalization is inevitable. It is an unstoppable steam train bearing down on the world and one must either choose to be run over by it or ride it into a new era. Our world is undergoing a fundamental change, and anyone who wishes to ride that train must be able to understand how it works and where it’s going. I say a steam train for two reasons. Firstly, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged has embedded it in my mind as a symbol of business and virtuous industrialism, which this new era will exalt. Secondly, in the new world we cannot stay where we are, we cannot stay local, we must be moving even as we’re not. The new market is a global one, and though one never actually has to leave home, one must, in some ways, travel to the other side of the world.

The unstoppable steam train creates a rather frightening image, but it really does not need to be. Though the adverse effects on the average American worker are already apparent (i.e. layoffs due to outsourcing), the truth is that globalization is good for the world as a whole. The benefits of a world market can be clearly seen in certain Asian cities and nations, especially in India and China. As Asians find American employment, so too do they find American business theory. Pushes towards capitalism are made, and as a result there are clear improvements in quality of life.

Capitalism inspires two things necessary to any prosperous society: innovation and education. The vast majority of advances in medicine and technology have come out of capitalist countries simply because of the system’s nature. We are constantly competing, ergo constantly innovating. We create businesses, bring capital into the system, create better businesses, build better devices, bring in more capital, and the cycle of advancement continues. Because our society revolves around competition, we are forced to educate and better ourselves to join the game, and the standards get higher every year. Now that we are global, this is unfortunately where the average American will lose out to the Indians or Chinese if dramatic changes are not made.
The global market has no room for anything but excellence. When Asia truly joins the capitalist game in the global arena, it will only be additional competition, and advances will need to be faster and better. We Americans have become complacent with our unchallenged and now rather undeserved place at the top, and unless we regain our industrial spirit, the golden age of capitalism into which the world is entering may ironically be the downfall of America.

All aboard.