Entry 2–02-26-2021 (Approx.: 2:30 AM):
Just testing something here…
https://media.tenor.co/videos/8ecc6441e4461371d301c7b2e73c5224/mp4
Entry 1–12/01/2020:
USSR’s “Five Year Plans,” Macroeconomics & Socio-Economic Development:
As a first-generation African-American, I often think about the dynamics of the above topic(s). I am generally awed by the dramatic economic/income inequality between “the global north” and “the global south” (and in other developing countries/regions, e.g. India).
I am also not convinced that there are simple answers to questions such as: 1) “What is ideal way for societies to develop/progress”? 2) “Should colonialism be credited–in addition to being justly criticized for its evils–for having helped Africans and other peoples with Western medicine and other modern conveniences (e.g. machines, electricity, etc.)”? I believe my understanding of the above-mentioned issues was given a helping hand yesterday, in the form of Wikipedia’s articles about the USSR’s socio-economic development trajectory since the Bolshevik Revolution, through the late-80s/early-90s collapse of the soviet union and Iron Curtain (e.g. “The Five Year Plans” article).
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I can and will probably write some more about this/these topic(s) on this page. But for now, my concluding thought is that, as other numerous writers have most likely pointed out before (citations to be added later), while it may indeed be true that “the global north” is emblematic of ideal developed societies, regions such as Africa could have made similar progress with the help of global trading partners versus imperialists/hegemonies.
Regardless, what should they do now? Normative scholars and policy-makers can offer answers in that regard. But for starters:
1)Those regions and societies will have to, and are already leapfrogging vis-a-vis technologies (e.g., skipping landline telephone systems, and going straight to cellular telephones).
2) “Two wrongs don’t make a right”: yes, colonialism was immoral (as well as slavery, and other types of exploitation), and the global trade system probably makes it hard for Africa and other regions to develop. But that doesn’t mean that politicians in those countries have to be despots and kleptocrats!
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Basic relevant intra-personal analytical question(s):
–> Did I think/talk to myself while reading the above-mentioned Wikipedia article?
>>> Answer: Yes (I paused and thought, internally communicating with my self).
–> What exactly was I thinking/saying as I read the article, and/or in the pauses between sentences/paragraphs?
>>> Answer: How “interesting” it was, and how it helped fill in some of the gaps I have tried to fill for a while, in regard to the comparative socio-economic dynamics of the USSR vs. the West in the Cold War era.
Aspiring Polymath 