Poverty in Asia; is it the fault of lazy people, greed, bad government, religion, infrastructure problems, or something else?
 

I found the poverty in many Asian Cities to be very very sad. The people I met (from the 1st world) all had a different opinion about why there is so much poverty in Asia.<BR><BR>Here are the opinions of others:<BR><BR>1) The people are lazy with no sense of ugency. Time is nothing to them.<BR><BR>2) It is the weather. Because it is so hot all the time, historically if the crops did not get planted today, tomoorow will do just fine.<BR><BR>3) Infrastructure in much of Asia is terrible. How can the economy expand when the phons do not work, roads are terrible and utility service is spotty.<BR><BR>4) The government is currupt and non responsive.<BR><BR>5) Religion is the reason people are so poor. When you are praying all the time, there is little interest in anything else.<BR><BR>6) It is all the scams, lies and cheating that is so common in Asia. There are a billion little Enrons!<BR><BR>What do you think?

Of course it is all of those things. In general, when it is a struggle to just survive, most people will think about your own needs (regardless of the cost), vs the needs of society.<BR><BR>Though the question is why some places like Korea and Japan can go from complete poverty and despair to a successful economy. While other places like Laos, remain poverty stricken.

Here we go again! Aren't you tired of this yet?

I smell a Kevin, does anybody else smell a Kevin?<BR><BR>To every body who is new here: This kind of thread, under many psudo names in the past, have appeared before. Please use common sense and don't post any further reply.

Who is Kevin? I thought the orginal posting had some interesting points and questions that may be of interest to a visiter to Asian 3rd world countries.

What you forget -- or choose to overlook -- is that until 30 or 40 years ago, most regions in Asia were colonies of Western countries, exploited for their resources and people. The Dutch left Indonesia without any legacy of commercial law or government administration -- hardly a great place to start as an independent nation. Britain's partition of Kashmir set the stage for today's tensions. Moreover, the US of A chose not to put together a billion-dollar Marshall Plan for war-devastated countries in Asia, unlike Europe.<BR><BR>Obviously you haven't been to HK, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan or Korea -- which for various reasons such as rule of law, work ethic and the entrepreneurial nature of their people -- have built dynamic and prosperous societies. But then, you wouldn't would you. Whether you're posting under the name 'Ted' or 'Kevin', you're a troll, pure and simple. <BR><BR>Here's a question for YOU, Ted... what gives you the right to be so condescending about an entire CONTINENT? Your generalities about 'Asian cities' are insulting and reveal the extent of your ignorance <BR><BR>Get a life, please. This topic is getting old.

I think the last poster answered many of the questions. Translation: many countries are poor because of bad government.

Jessie, and the globalisation of the developed countries.