Sid's CAS 137 – Passion Blog

Indonesia was the very first country I lived in after leaving India. But since then I have lived in several other countries. But the most recent country (aside from the United States) that I’ve lived in was Vietnam. Vietnam is a very special country for me not just because I graduated high school from there, but also because in many ways it is the best place I’ve ever lived (in my eyes). I consider myself to be a bit of an urban rat, with a love of cities and their ability to allow a person to be either insanely social or completely reclusive. Considering that I lived in Hanoi – the second largest city as well as the capital of Vietnam – I think I was exposed to a very specific portion of Vietnam. One of the things that truly struck me there was the nature of the people. Despite the fact that Vietnam is (on-paper) a single-party state (bringing about images of military marches and total 1984-esque surveillance), I think Vietnam was in some way the most ‘free’ country that I’ve ever lived in. This isn’t only because of low prices for typically expensive products in street markets, but also because the ‘healthy disconnect’ between their government and their people – while the government may be very concerned with law enforcement and corporate corruption, they are mostly unconcerned by the media the people use, and don’t work too hard on censorship. For a country ravaged by war less than 50 years ago and is only remembered in that context, Vietnam has pulled itself together in possibly the best way possible.

But unlike the old saying, seeing isn’t believing. I lived a very specific lifestyle in a very specific section of a very specific city in Vietnam, so to say that I was able to see the true realities of what Vietnam actually is like. So for possibly my final passion blog in CAS 137-138, I will analyze Vietnam in terms of:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Over the last 30 years, Vietnam has experienced some of the highest growth rates in the world – averaging at a GDP growth rate of around 6.4% per year during the 2000s. This is a crazily high growth rate, so it is a surprise that Vietnam has not qualified as an ‘Asian Tiger’. With a high GDP growth rate, this country also has a high GDP per capita, with a strong and entrepreneurial spirit among its working and middle-class when it comes to starting businesses and more. Its inflation rate remains relatively stable, meaning that GDP growth is not compromised by a currency becoming more and more obsolete or worthless. Just because a single dollar equates to 20,000 dong (yes, that’s the actual name of the currency) should not make anyone underestimate the potential and strengths of the Vietnamese economy. In many ways, Vietnam is the second most important ‘production economy’ in the world right now (right behind China), and a literal powerhouse in economic terms. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Health and Life Expectancy

But what effects have economic growth had on health? Despite increasing pollution and more, Vietnamese life expectancy continues to increase – as of 2012, it was at almost 76 years. One interesting factoid about this is that despite all the death and destruction during the Vietnam war, life expectancy in Vietnam continued to increase, as somehow things were still getting better (this in no way justifies war, but does tell us something about these peoples’ resilience). The country’s under-5 mortality rate also continues to decrease, and open defecation has become less of a concern over the last few years. All in all, the health of the common Vietnamese person is not that much of a concern. However, the lingering effects of war cannot be ignored. In many remote parts of Vietnam – primarily in farming land – the long-term effects of Agent Orange and Napalm usage on agricultural land has severely effected the local population. This is seen in the form of genetic defects, mental illnesses, and physical disabilities. These effects cannot be denied, and since then there have been many calls to pay reparations to Vietnam for all these problems – but as of now no such demands have been met. (Sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

Education and Literacy

Vietnam is a real rule-breaker in education and literacy. One of the primary ways a country’s efficacy and potential academic excellence is determined is by seeing the average PISA test results of that country. Typically, it has been a very well-accepted fact that countries with higher GDPs per capita tend to have higher PISA scores. But unlike most countries, Vietnam breaks this rule. Despite having a relatively low GDP per capita (compared to the OECD and its member countries) its students have an average PISA scores comparable to much wealthier nations. In fact, this disparity so great that in order to prove that GDP per capita is linked to higher PISA scores, Vietnam is one of the two countries whose data must be omitted in order to prove this relationship sufficiently. This phenomenon has been linked to an impressively difficult education system, prevalence of internet access in the majority of the country (despite a lack of computers in classrooms), prevalence of smartphone usage (this supplements the internet access provided in classes and more), as well as the government’s commitment to improving Vietnamese public education. Even among the wealthiest spheres of the population, education – that too high quality education – is seen as a necessity, not a bonus or optional feature to one’s life. All of these things combined make Vietnam’s people among the most mentally strong and intelligent populaces in the world. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Environment

Vietnam has one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. The majority of the country is considered to exist in the tropical zone, with much of its forests still having unknown corners, such as the world’s largest cave system (discovered 1-2 years ago by a farmer). Despite the incredible diversity of nature in this country, economic growth has compromised environment protection agencies in the country through corruption and corporate interests supported by corrupt government officials. Urbanization, industrialization, and intensive farming have led to air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution, waste treatment, particularly in urban and industrial centers like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Land use pressures have led to significant environmental problems, including severe deforestation, soil erosion, sedimentation of rivers, flooding in the deltas, declining fish yields, and pollution of the coastal and marine environment. While conservation agencies are growing in popularity through their cooperation with local groups residing in many of these damaged locations, there is still much work to do. (Sources 1, 2)

Freedom of Speech

While on paper Vietnam has some of the worst records in promoting freedom of speech, the government happens to lack the capability to enforce stricter controls over what people say. The people of Vietnam do not feel that they have the capability to influence government decisions due to greater inequity of power between the governing and governed bodies, but as of now a large number of policies made by the Vietnamese government does have beneficial effects on the lives of the common man, such as its commitment to education. Unlike China, a country whose free-speech policies are often compared to, Vietnam does not have a ‘great firewall’, and does not do too much to restrict communications between countries. But this is not because of a benevolent government, but because of a government that knows it is incapable of censoring absolutely everything. Demonstrations are illegal without government authorization, and cannot be anti-government. They can be pro-government, or calling upon the government to recognize a concern citizens are facing, but direct criticism of the government is ‘greatly discouraged’. In rural areas, due to some district managers and their excessive commitment to industrialization, farmers often have their land seized without adequate compensation. Organizations such as the UN and Amnesty International are both working to make sure this can be countered effectively, but this has had limited benefits so far. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Inequality

Social inequalities have grown during Vietnam’s transition to a market-based economy, even as average incomes have increased and the number of people living in poverty has decreased. As industrialization and a transition to a more laissez-faire market has become a trend in this country, more of the country’s income has shifted towards its wealthiest citizens. That being said, the World Bank does say that Vietnam’s increase in income inequality is modest compared to its larger neighbor, China. As well as that, the World Bank measures something called “shared prosperity” using the growth rate of the average income of the poorest 40 percent of the population. In Vietnam between the mid-nineties and early 2010s, the average income of the bottom 40% grew at an annual rate of 9%. This is one the very highest rates of growth in the world of the incomes of the bottom 40 percent. While income inequality is not a huge concern just yet, this is still something the government and society must remain concerned about. On the bright side, gender inequality has mostly been eradicated, leading to a more prosperous country. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Conclusion

In conclusion, Vietnam is definitely a strong and up-and-coming economic power. With a high economic growth rate, relatively low rates of inequality, and a well-educated populace, it is destined to grow and thrive even in these increasingly uncertain times. Its problems of environmental destruction and healthcare (both of which have been effected by war) are problems that still have not been sufficiently addressed, and the country’s commitment (or lack thereof) to the people’s consideration could cause more of a divide between citizen and state in the long run, and create many problems, many of which cannot be forecasted properly. All in all, this is a country with many flaws and a ways to go in many different directions, but undoubtedly has what it takes to solve its problems.

So that was probably my last passion blog. I’ll miss this experience greatly, as it has given me a way for me to indulge in my other interests outside of my major to a much larger degree than I’d hoped, and this will likely shape my career-related interests in the far future.

I have decided to break my rule about only writing about nations that I have never lived – I think as this is my last semester in this course, I think it makes sense for me to make this blog a little bit more autobiographical.

Indonesia was the first country I lived in outside of India. I spent a little less than three years here – the first two in Jakarta, and the other one in Medan (because of my father’s work, I basically hopped from island to another). But island hopping can mean anything with reference to this country. Take a look at the map below:

Image Source

Indonesia is composed of thousands of islands scattered at a point where the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and South China Sea intersect. So I basically hopped from Java to Sumatra after spending 2 years in the former location.

Indonesia doesn’t really seem to make the news anymore – in recent years, it has had a relatively stable government, a tough and growing economy, and has secured itself a seat in G20 meetings. But its history goes back way further than just its independence from the Netherlands in 1945 – early traces of organized civilizations date to the 2nd century ACE, with the advent of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms, followed by Islamic Sultanates, a Christian Kingdom, Dutch Rule, the United States of Indonesia (a federal nation that fell apart in a year), to the Republic of Indonesia that we see today. Today, Indonesia remains diverse and multicultural; while being a Muslim-majority country, Indonesia still treasures its multi-ethnic and religious roots of the past. Over 700 distinct languages are spoken in these islands, making it a very multilingual country as well. Indonesia’s national motto literally translates to ‘Unity in Diversity’. If there is anything that proves a nation’s commitment to everyone who lives in it, it is that.

But on to the stuff that ‘matters’:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Indonesia is currently the largest economy in South East Asia. With a staggering growth rate of 5.8% per years country has been newly re-classified as an industrialized nation – something that not too many nations have achieved since in the financial crisis of 2008. It is recognized by the World Bank as a politically stable nation that is emerging as a confident middle income country – with a GDP over $800 billion. Right now, most economists advising the country advise the government to do whatever it can to stay the course it is on.

That being said, the Indonesian economy isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. While its growth rate is quite high, Indonesia is also has an inflation rate of 6.4%. This means that if this goes on (using my ECON 104 knowledge) banks would be forced to raise their interest rates on loans. This would not really effect large businesses much, but more marginal businesses will be negatively effected. Like in most nations, the majority of the Indonesia’s workforce is concentrated in small businesses, so a higher interest rate would negatively effect all these businesses. Unless the Bank Sentral Republik Indonesia, both the Indonesian employment rate and the value of the Rupiah will be in in peril. (Sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

Health and Life Expectancy

But money isn’t everything – health and life expectancy determines a lot about a country’s future.  The average age of an Indonesia is 29 for both men and women, signalling the rise of an aging population. The average life expectancy here is over 70 and rising, which is beginning to rival even industrialized countries. At this moment in time, this isn’t a problem yet as a large proportion of its population is still of working age and the country’s TFR is declining but steadily at the relatively healthy rate of about 2.37 children per mother. While major development organizations recommend a TFR of 2.0 to 2.1, this target is a ways away for Indonesia, but looking at the current population growth trend, this isn’t an impossible trend for them to hit by 2050. As of now, for every 16 births, there are only 6 deaths. This is a sign of improving medical care throughout this country, but also a sign that there is considerable population growth taking place with insufficient family-planning aid provided by the government or other NGOs. However, this will require significant commitment from the Indonesian government and society. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Education and Literacy

In terms of literacy, both men and women are expected to spend 13 years in some form of schooling. Only 3.3% of Indonesia’s GDP – which is still 20% of its government expenditure – is spent on education, and evidently it seems like this is being used quite efficiently. It has become a very important part of the government’s development agenda especially since its economic crisis in 2007 and 2008, leading to proportionately increasing expenditures into this department as it increased its government expenditure. Its literacy rate remains very high for a nation its region – at over 98% for both men and women. Indonesia’s commitment to education is also shown by the number of users of technology (internet, cell phones, and more). While unusual, this is a country where somehow while the net enrollment rate for women is at 100%, for men it is 98%. This is a small and negligible disparity, signifying the rise of equity and equality between men and women in this country. The system is characterized as immense and diverse – and seems to do its job quite well. (Sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

Environment

If there is one thing that the Indonesia government has problems with, it is regulating and protecting its environment. Indonesia’s ecosystems have always been seen as being among the most biologically diverse the planet has to offer – from the prevalence of South Asian elephants and Tigers in its islands to its newly discovered amphibian species. Many plants, such as the Rafflesia flower, are only found in specific islands that are in Indonesia’s domain. While the palm oil industry has not destroyed it to the extent that it has in the Malay and Bruneian portions of Borneo, Indonesia’s forests do remain threatened by loggers and plantation builders, and corruption remains rife in many islands of the country, causing great problems to local ethnic groups as well as the wildlife in the area. Habitat destruction leads to the extinction of several species every day, and many of these species exist – or used to exist – in Indonesia, making Indonesia’s record in fighting for their environment dismal in comparison to other countries. Concerns with reference to pollution and global warming remain a concern here as well – as they do in much of the world. (Sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

Freedom of Speech

While most news providers in Indonesia remain uncensored and critical of government policies and protocols, Indonesia has a very clear human rights problem when it comes to freedom of information and journalism. In the domain of the interwebs, the Indonesian government has put together strict protocol to combat cyber-crime, but activists say this policy also restricts free speech on the internet. Some sources also seem to imply that this is also in order to prevent and restrict much discussion and criticism about the governments policing-related policies. There have been many cases of censors and government officials attacking those who criticize them – causing very real consequences for journalists and others who wish to report mistreatment of authority and other such positions. While the country remains stable, it is possible that this is because the country is simply simmering prior to a more violent action from the public against the government. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Inequality

While Indonesia’s GDP per capita remains high, as does its annual GDP growth rate, there is a very notable rise in income inequality between upper and lower social classes. Like many large cities in developing nations, there’s considerable proximity between the ultra-rich who live in luxurious condos and mansions and those barely making a living wage in slums and fishing villages near those aforementioned wealthy abodes. Despite increasing wealth in the country, it seems like only 20% of the population truly benefited directly from that in the last decade. Over half the country’s assets are controlled by the wealthiest 1%, and 77% of the nation’s wealth is controlled by the top 10%. This has been caused and exacerbated by unequal opportunities to schooling, employment, and income savings. The fact that the effective tax-rate on the wealthiest people in the country remains lower than that on lower-wage earners is only making this worse. This is predicted to cause considerable problems in the future, and compromise long-term economic growth. The government is attempting to remedy by this through their civil infrastructure development policies (which are labor intensive), but only time will tell if such policies will be effective without direct action on repairing fiscal policies currently implemented in the country and its increasingly unequal policies. (Sources 1, 2, 3)

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that while Indonesia has made considerable strides in development, wealth growth, and more, it still needs help in other departments. As of now, several organizations, such as the United Nations and its agencies, NGOs like Plan International, and more are working with the government to fix the problems that the country faces. This country also receives considerable support from other nations for its critical position geo-politically. As a member of the G20, Indonesia has gained considerable influence in recent years, and will remain an important player in development and economic growth in coming years. Since I left this country, it remains a growing and increasingly powerful country. Problems still plague it, but that does not mean that there isn’t any hope for improvement, and only time will tell whether current policies will have positive or negative effects on the country as a whole.

My ‘This I Believe’ podcast was about home, and basically my personal definition or understanding of what home is. I have lived 6 countries (the US being my sixth) and I’ve never spent more than a few years in any single place. I’ve been doing this since I was six years old, so ever since then I’ve never really had the opportunity to identify a specific location with home. That was what truly inspired me to make my podcast the way that I did. I thought it was appropriate to make my podcast personal and to some extent autobiographical, as ‘This I Believe’ podcasts have a tendency to be very personal in nature to a specific person or group of people.

I found the experience of recording my own voice very unusual and quite awkward – I don’t really like the sound of my voice, and it is always at least a little bit unusual to read out one’s written work. However, I think this was great speech-writing and oratory practice, because writing a speech or podcast and writing any other form of formal or informal text is very different from one another. All of a sudden one must consider the rate at which we speak, as well as for pauses when considering brevity and highlighting various points while speaking. While this was difficult for me at first, I think this really helped me understand how speech-writing works, and has definitely made me more interested in blogging and podcasting.

The link to my podcast is on my previous post, but also right here:

Enjoy!

New year new post! (Sorry I had to)

Last semester, our first blog was supposed to be written about us, who we were as people and just to introduce ourselves to our fellow classmates. Seeing that I’ve never been in this section before and I know only 2 or 3 names from this class properly, I feel that it is appropriate to do the same again (plus, no one likes scrolling down).

My name is Siddharth Patra (although I go by Sid for the sake of time and pronounciation) and I am from India. Although I was born there, thanks to my dad’s job in UNICEF (and briefly Plan International), I ended up going to school in Jakarta (in Indonesia), Medan (also in Indonesia), Dhaka (in Bangladesh) Dakar (in Senegal), and Hanoi (in Vietnam). So I’ve been around, I suppose, and have been to some other countries for vacation, but coming to Penn State was the first valid excuse I had to come to the US (I assure you that’s not the only reason I’m here).

I am currently majoring in Computer Engineering (but since I’m a first year student, I’m just in ‘Engineering’), and am in the Schreyer Honor’s College. I do feel that as a student here I’m more than just my major, and I am taking actions to become more involved in my community than I was previously.

For whatever reason, I do somehow like blogging. The questions/prompts given to me last semester for the RCL blog we had to run were interesting and engaging, but my passion blog was really my main interest – kind of like my ‘baby’ – in this course. My blog is specifically about nations and how they work. Last semester, I focused on countries that I had never lived in (I’ve only lived in 6, so I still have around 190 to choose from), but this time I want to start writing about places that I have been. Specifically, I’ll be concerned with the nations’:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

 

That is my current plan, and may be subject to change, however, I think it would be best to stick with it as closely as I can. That’s all from me for now – starting next week, I’ll really be getting going!

-Sid

Hopefully, this will not be my final blog post ever, however, with the semester coming to a close, I must say goodbye to this wonderful blog.

The prompt for this blog post was unique: to reflect on something I learned over the course of this semester. That is very difficult for me to figure out, mostly because I think I’ve learned too many things to truly zone in on any single lesson through my first semester in this class. So, I’m going to keep it general – I think the most important thing I learned over the course of this class was the importance of rhetoric.

Personally, I’ve always kind of understood that rhetoric was an important part of life – both in an everyday capacity as well as on global level. But I didn’t truly understand how much went into even the simplest (but catchiest) of phrases and how much of an impact they have on people as a whole. The importance of a single strongly worded phrase (‘Make America Great Again’, or my favorite, ‘Feel the Bern’) is incredible – and I have always been able to observe that – but for once I knew why this happened and why this effected people the way it did.

But I think the most important lesson I learned from this course was that of the importance of rhetoric and using it wisely. For thousands of years the ability of a powerful rhetorician has been proven again and again to show that the use of clever words can literally change history. Now, that doesn’t mean I personally am a perfect rhetorician and public speaker, and that doesn’t even necessarily mean that anyone else in this course this year was either, but this does mean that we have a responsibility to call people out on what they say and be responsible with the rhetorical skills that we now possess and use them for causes that may actually benefit society. Our ability to do so can literally change governments and the world for the better – or it could do the exact opposite of that. The more of us who do know this, and the more of us who stay vocal about this matter, the better for all of society as a whole.

Of course, I learned a lot more about this course in terms of vocabulary and theory that I did not know before, but I feel that my new understanding of rhetoric and its impacts on the world are the main points that I took away from this course. The fact that this was an election year in a democratic country that I am not a citizen of (but still will be affected by) accentuated the importance of the lessons I learned in this course, and have only bolstered my resolve in learning more about all of this. This semester has had its ups and downs, but all in all, I think it was a powerful experience for me, one that I do not regret having whatsoever.

Considering that the United States, the country I live in, and India, the country I’m from (and a lot of the rest of the world) have both had a love-hate relationship with the Middle East, I felt that it was about time that I wrote a post in that direction. One notable country that seems to have escaped media attention recently is Pakistan.

Firstly, it should be noted that Pakistan is in the Middle East, but at a stretch:

Technically, Pakistan is also a part of South Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, which means culturally this country has always been at an inflection point between the Middle East’s religious cultures and South Asia’s ethnic cultures. This can most notably be seen in Urdu (Pakistan’s national language), a language that is almost indistinguishable from Hindi (the primary language spoken in North India), except for some ‘Arabicized’ vocabulary and their entire written script. This means that Pakistan has had its own share of notable individuals and contributions to the world: Mohammad Abdus Salam (winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, known for his incredible contributions to the identification of quark ‘flavors’ and ‘electroweak attractions’), Malala Yousafzai (the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever known for her work on promoting women’s rights in Pakistan), and Benazir Bhutto (the only woman to ever lead a majority-Muslim leader, and that too twice) are all notable examples of Pakistan’s finest individuals (“List of Muslim Nobel Laureates”). Important material creations from Pakistan include the understanding of how to connect brain-cells to silicon chips, first plastic magnet (that functions in room temperature), and early heavy water detectors (“List of Pakistani inventions and discoveries”).

However, Pakistan is still a developing nations with its own problems, and I will be analyzing the nation in terms of:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Health and Life Expectancy

The majority of Pakistanis pay for their own healthcare, as there are no national health insurance systems, and to this day remains the only country in the world without a national health ministry (“Challenges to improving health care in Pakistan”). Healthcare is also seen as the most corrupt public sector industry according to Transparency International. For this reason, Pakistan’s life expectancy remains at 66.4 years, and is growing stagnantly (“Life Expectancy at Birth, total (years)”). But improving medical infrastructure and more are expected to improve the living and health conditions of Pakistan greatly, but it is argued that the government has done little to nothing with improving these conditions. Other NGOs and the United Nations have been working in the country tirelessly, but without enough government involvement and support, their successes have been limited.

Education and Literacy

In education and literacy, there are tremendous geographic discrepancies in Pakistan. Literacy in Islamabad, for example, is at a staggering 96%, but in the Kohlu district it remains at a sobering 28% (“Education in Pakistan”). There is also a gap in literacy rates between men and women – with men being almost 18% more likely to have an education than women (“Statistics – Pakistan”). Such differences in education rates within the nation is evidence that Article 25A of the Pakistani constitution (guaranteeing free and universal education for all Pakistani children between the ages of 6 and 16) has not been enacted properly. However, almost 49% of Pakistanis have some command of English, giving them a linguistic advantage when pursuing their interests in other nations  (“Education in Pakistan”). Despite the second highest out-of-school population and a very low literacy rate, the country produces 445,000 graduates, 10,000 of whom are computer science majors, which is evidence of tremendous potential among the Pakistani people (“Education in Pakistan”).

Environment

Pakistan faces almost every kind of environmental problem there is at some capacity – deforestation, noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution, pesticide misuse, soil erosion, desertification, natural disasters, and climate change have all had adverse impacts on the well-being of the citizens in this country (“Environmental Issues in Pakistan”). However, it should also be noted that Pakistan’s mountainous regions remain among the most beautiful in the world, acting as sanctuaries for many species of animals, flora, and fauna. This is a picture:

However, climate and environment protection policies have had limited reach, effect, and enthusiasm behind them, meaning that much of Pakistan’s natural environment remains threatened by human intervention. Because of a poor populace and lower quality of life, the average person only emits 0.8 tons of CO2 per year (Breathing Earth). Thanks to remote and difficult terrain, much of Pakistan’s beauty remains protected out of coincidence, not enforcement.

Freedom of Speech

Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, but on paper has very democratic ideals. Article 19 and 19A in the constitution read:

Article 19 of The Constitution of Pakistan : Freedom of speech, etc.

Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.

Article 19(A) of The Constitution of Pakistan: Right to information

Every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.

But on the ground, there have been cases of arrests of journalists and political enemies throughout history, sometimes even leading to assassinations, like that of Benazir Bhutto (“Benazir Bhutto Killed in Attack“). Hence, it can be argued that free-speech technically exists, but corruption and political interests often compromise this.

Inequality

Inequality in Pakistan is currently on the rise – according to a report by the UNDP, 22 families still control over 66% of the income earned by Pakistanis today (Junaidi). This has had considerable effects on the disparities in living conditions in Pakistan – with some districts having qualities of life comparable or better than those in the most developed OECD nations and others comparable to the poorest parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. But fortunately, like all around the world, extreme and multidimensional poverty has fallen significantly in the last 30 years. However, rampant inequality has a tendency to cause and accelerate the propagation of corrupt activities, so I would say that it must be kept in check.

On the whole

I think that while Pakistan has a notable and interesting history, it should be noted that it still has much to improve upon in every aspect of human, environmental, and economic development. Despite the setbacks faced by the people here, the Pakistani people continue to thrive and develop their country, indicating the tremendous potential this country has should its governance and commitment to its constitution improve. A country with an intricate, difficult, and complex history, Pakistan is a very significant nation on the global scale, and as it develops, will only increase in global significance.

Seeing that there’s a very good chance that Donald Trump may win the election, there’s been a significant rise of people’s actively talking (and making memes) about how they’re going to ‘run off to Canada’. Since noticing this phenomenon, I have realized that maybe I should write a post about Canada – the first country I’ve considered from the continent of North America.

Much like the US, Canada has also had a 400-year, dark history. Unlike the US, Canada chose to remain in the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom, and over the course of many decades, built a nation known for its neutrality despite its involvement in many conflicts. Canada is known for many things – ice hockey, scientific achievements like the creation of the electron microscope, medicinal insulin, and the snowmobile (“List of Canadian Inventions”). But even a nation as perfect as Canada – with untouched wildernesses, fresh air, low gun-violence, free healthcare, and elks – it has its problems. I will now consider the following aspects of this nation and evaluate its worthiness of being a good destination for any immigration related purposes:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Health and Life Expectancy

Canadians as a whole are a very healthy people – with a life expectancy of 81.24 years, it is clear that Canada’s healthcare system and other related policies have been very effective at maintaining the welfare of their people. However, the same cannot be said about the First Nations communities of Canada. The First Nations have much greater rates of mental health problems, ranging from depression to other suicide-related tendencies – sometimes almost 20% more than the average Canadian (Schulman). This is a matter of considerable concern, as while medical health support is available to the majority of Canadians, those who identify as First Nation and reside in such communities do not come from the best economic backgrounds, and mental health disorders and suicides are frequent throughout such communities (Khan). Many argue that Canada has not taken enough action to help these minority groups – this is supported by the fact that not many health centers are available to these minorities as they are in other locations in Canada. Other than this notable disparity, health and well-being in Canada is among the best in the world.

Education and Literacy

While the national literacy rate in Canada is practically 100% due to its progressive policies promoting education, many Canadians think this is not enough. As of now, 42% of Canadians between the ages of 16 and 65 have ‘low level literacy’, which is implied to mean secondary school-level education (“literacy statistics canada”). According to the organization that did this survey:

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is designed to assess the current state of the skills of individuals and nations in the new information age. It builds upon earlier conceptions of literacy from IALS in the 1990s and the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey ALL in 2003 and 2006 to facilitate an appropriate assessment of the broad range of literacy skills required for the 21st century. The framework broadens the definition of literacy to make it relevant to the information age, in particular, by including the skills of reading in digital environments.

– Adult Literacy – OECD

This is a very notable statistic, because technically, Canada has a 100% literacy rate, but they are beginning to raise their standards of literacy on the basis of competency in the new century and the skills one would need to thrive in it. Hence, it would be fair to say that Canada has some of the best educated people in the world, and organizations within it are truly committed to making it even better.

Environment

Thanks to climate protection policies, promotion of renewable energy resources, and environment protection policies, 34.1% of their land is forest. Despite this, per capita production of CO2 has been on the rise – although some reports show that the growth rate of carbon dioxide has slowly been reducing (Breathing Earth). However, Canada’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals as outlined by the United Nations is promising, and this may change over time. One hiccup climate activists faced in Canada was during the terms of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who allowed oil companies to extract tar sands from Alberta and other locations in Canada, causing significant environmental damages in the name of economic growth (Woynillowicz).

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech is very liberalized, but funnily enough, there are limits to it. Since the introduction of a motion by Lord Dear in the British House of Lords (whose decrees do apply over Canada, as it is technically still a part of the Queen’s dominion) on December 12, 2012, Section 5 of from the Public Order act was changed. It was changed to state:

“uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.” – Lord Dear

Essentially, it makes it illegal to insult people (Kott). This is unusual and also quite controversial, but so far has not seen any radical changes in the political climate in Canada.

Inequality

Although the Gini coefficient of inequality in Germany is rising (it is currently at 33.7, which is considered to be ‘medium’ at the moment), because of progressive government programs, there isn’t as much strain on the public (this has caused its human development index to be set at 0.913 – which is very high, indicating a wealthy and prosperous population). Progressive tax rates have also promoted that – with richer individuals in society paying a greater proportion of their income and wealth than poorer sections. However, there have been criticisms of the current economic system in Canada, both morally and economically, so there is a chance that economic equality in Canada will improve much more once appropriate policies are enacted. It is a clear sign that the people of Canada and many of its internal organizations are working for the betterment of their country (Income Inequality – Canada and World Results).

On the whole

I think that Canada and its people truly strive to make their country better than it is for their people more than just their economy. Despite negative economic growth and environmental problems, the Canadian government has remained stable. With reference to the possibility that Trump might win, it is important to remember that Canada is much more liberal than the United States – with considerable freedoms on matters like drug use (treated mostly as a health concern), prostitution (legal, regulated, with restrictions) and more (Coutts). For a nation with the resources that it has, Canada is a paramount example to other nations of how to use them effectively. It is not a flawless nation, but as far as I am concerned, there is much that the rest of the world can learn from this country.

Ethiopia is an eastern African nation with an ancient and interesting history, filled with success, wealth, power, glory, and tragedy. The longest lasting Christian kingdom ever, the Aksum empire that preceded Ethiopia was an elusive kingdom lying in the heart of its famous highlands has had a tumultuous history, having to live in silence deep in its own forests to stay away from conflicts with the Arabs who occupied Ethiopia and present day Somalia’s coasts as well as the Italians, whose failed invasion of Ethiopia caused considerable damage to the country (“Ethiopia”). But since the time of Haile Selassie (who also inspired the creation of Rastafarianism), much has changed – Ethiopia is no longer a fabled Christian kingdom in the Horn of Africa, and is instead a developing political and economic power in East Africa (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”). Hence, it is important to judge the following characteristics of this nation:

Economic growth
Health and life expectancy
Education and literacy
Environment
Freedom of speech
Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Today, Ethiopia’s GDP growth rate is among the highest in Africa in general. Its most recent GDP growth report shows that it had a growth rate of around 9.60% in this past quarter (“Ethiopia GDP Growth Rate Annual”). This is likely because it is the second most populous nation in Africa – with 97 million people and a population growth rate of 2.5% as of 2014 (“World Bank: Ethiopia Overview”). The country has a diverse and rich resource base, but mostly in the agriculture industry, such as sesame seeds and coffee – in fact, 60% of the Ethiopian economy is agriculture and it employs 80% of the employed populace (“Economy of Ethiopia”). However, there are signs of an emerging alternate industry on the rise here as well – comprising of factory production – but as stated by Ha-Joon Chang, it is simply emerging (Chang). Poverty is a problem that the government struggles to deal with in this country, as corporation and those in positions of power have a greater say and control over the direction of money-flow in this country (like in many developing nations).

Health and Life Expectancy

Life expectancy in Ghana for all citizens of this nation is 62.2 years (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”). This is lower than the global average of 71.42 (“Life Expectancy”). Sadly, the government’s efforts in solving this problem have been limited. Although a there is a nationalized/public health service system in this country, most of such services are provided in towns and cities – rural areas have had a tendency to get left behind in this case (“Poverty & Healthcare – Ethiopia”). Over 80% of Ethiopia’s population still lives in rural areas, which means that these healthcare services do not reach the majority of the country’s population. It is believed that as healthcare improves and life expectancy decreases the total fertility rate (also noted as TFR – it is the mean number of children per mother) of Ethiopians, which currently is around 5.07 per mother “The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”). Given that the ‘sustainable’ TFR for the world is 2.00 children per mother, Ethiopia has a way to go in order to meet this goal.

Education and Literacy

Like many developing countries, Ethiopa is still working toward a better education system and a more literate populace. Currently, around 49.1% of the total populace is educated, and the number is higher for men than it is for women (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”).  This has many compounding effects on the economy – holding the country back from producing products that require a highly skilled labor force as well as reducing child planning capabilities for families to reduce the nation’s population and dependency ratio. Through the UN’s efforts in the country, female literacy is gaining ground and slowly improving. The current unemployment rate in Ghana is around 7.3% – which is higher than the government there would like it, but as small businesses take off in this rapidly changing country, this probably won’t last as a problem (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”).

Environment

Due to rapid development, the Ghanaian forest coverage has reduced to 12.2% of the country’s total area (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”). 36.3% of the country’s land is used for agricultural purposes, and the remainder of the land is used for ‘other’ purposes (“The World Factbook: ETHIOPIA”). This is typical for a developing nation, but as Ethiopia industrializes, it is feared that the environment in Ethiopia will take a greater toll on its diverse flora, fauna, and wildlife. Sadly, the country doesn’t have much usable land to spare anyway, as other than forest a good portion of the nation is quite mountainous, meaning that this will limit their capacity to industrialize the way China has, leading them to focus on a more technology-centered industrialization that doesn’t focus as much on land development.

Freedom of Speech

The Ethiopia’s ruling party coalition won all 547 parliamentary seats in the 2015 elections, mostly because there wasn’t much of an opposition party in Ethiopia anyway. Authorities have been found arresting journalists, bloggers, protesters, and perceived supporters of opposition parties, therefore guaranteeing support for the ruling party. Security forces respond to peaceful protests with excessive force, and there is evidence that detainees routinely suffer torture. As of now, the Ethiopian government pretty much controls the economy on its own, with private land ownership forbidden. The government has not adequately investigated allegations of abuses associated with its “villagization program,” or the development of sugar plantations in the Lower Omo Valley affecting 200,000 indigenous people, both of which benefitted directly or indirectly from donor assistance (“Ethiopia – Human Rights Watch”).

Inequality

Although the Gini coefficient of inequality in Ethiopia is rising (it is currently at 33.6, which is considered to be ‘medium’ at the moment), because of progressive government programs, and also a lack of overall wealth amongst the people in general. The wealthiest people in the country are those in government and it large corporations. Thanks to corruption and more, the government, the UN and other NGOs have had limited success in this country. This has lead to its low human development index value, which is set at 0.442 (“Ethiopia”). While 0.442 categorizes Ethiopia as an MEDC, on the ground it is not. It is barely and MEDC because some factors (like GDP per capita and literacy) artificially inflated. If this is dealt with effectively, organizations will be able to improve the quality of life for all in Ethiopia much more rapidly.

On the whole

I think that Ethiopia is an example of a developing country  with several problems that it is trying to combat at the same time with mixed successes. It is already a powerful economy in Africa, and trying to do its best to become a nation that can compete on the global stage economically, as it already relatively powerful economically and politically in Africa already. They have much left to improve in almost every aspect of their country, but unlike Ghana, Ethiopia’s commitment to free-speech is not as intense and not as strong. most other countries, and this has had effects on the culture and social constructs within the nation as well. Despite several missteps and struggles in the past, this country’s people are an exemplar of a perseverance and strength – even in uncertain times like this.

Japan is the first Asian country I will introduce to this blog. Is it weird that I have waited this long? Probably – but I thought that if any country deserved a few countries to precede it with reference to appropriate presentation, it was Japan. Japan is an economic miracle, a socioeconomic success (or failure, depending on who you ask) and has produced great minds and figures, such as Oda Nobunaga (one of the greatest daimyo of all time), Tokugawa Ieyasu (also a formidable military leader and shogun), Michio Kaku (physicist and futurist), Yoko Ono (phenomenal modern artist – wife of the late John Lennon), Ichiro Suzuki (baseball player), and many others. For the most of its history as an actual Empire, Japan ran on a feudal system very much like the one run in Europe. While the Europeans had Kings (and the occasional Holy Roman Emperor), the Japanese had their Divine Emperor. While Europe had knights, the Japanese had samurai. The list goes on, however, that is not going to be the focus of this post – again, I will be focusing on the aspects of this country that I find most worth noting:

Economic growth
Health and life expectancy
Education and literacy
Environment
Freedom of speech
Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Japan’s economy (in reference to recent history) has always been one to reckon with. Japan was the first Asian country to put industrialization as a top point in its agenda through the Meiji Restoration (Mosk). This allowed Japan to defeat many of its rivals in several conflicts, like Russia (a country with a much larger army and resources) from 1904-1905, Korea, Taiwan, and later (through World War 2), even Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines (“Empire of Japan”). While conquests like this were useful, Japan also lost World War 2, but thanks to foreign investment and social investment in education and infrastructure, Japan became one of the first ‘Asian Tigers’ and at one point had the second largest economy in the world – right behind the United States – thanks to their booming motor vehicles, technological, and service markets and exports (“Economy of Japan”). Recently, however, Japan’s economy has been shrinking at about 1.4% a year – and this is because of Japan’s negative population growth. Thanks to a new, workaholic-favoring culture, Japanese people are less likely to have children than ever before, causing many changes in the country’s social constructs and applying more pressure on younger generations when supporting older ones than ever before. For this reason, the country’s consumer economy is shrinking. This would easily be solved by opening up immigration, however, since Japan is historically a very conservative and homogeneous nation (in terms of race and culture), this is and would be a very difficult transition for them, so this is likely to remain a problem into the future.

Health and Life Expectancy

Life expectancy in Japan is the second highest in the world overall – at a crazy 85 years as of 2016 (“Life Expectancy”). Japan is easily among the best countries to live in if you are old – in fact, it is argued that the elderly of Japan are living happier lives than their younger counterparts. Also unseen almost anywhere else in the world, the proportion of senior citizens in Japanese prisons are also growing rapidly – as of 2010, around 16% of Japan’s prison population are 60 years old or older (Yamaguchi). This is unprecedented because many of the elderly in prison are in for the same reasons young people are in prisons elsewhere – bar-fights, excessive gambling, shoplifting or theft, and so on. This is because the economy is getting tough for the elderly as well, although it can also be argued that the old people of Japan have too much time on their hands. At the same time, however, Japan’s young people are less likely to have kids than ever before. Women are unwilling to get married because it implies that they may have to leave the workforce, and men are having a harder time securing jobs. The problem faced by Japanese young people is both systematic as well as cultural – and both catalyze the effects of the other, and are now contributing to a rapidly aging population (Haworth).

Education and Literacy

Japan has an almost 100% literacy rate for both men and women in their country due to progressive social reforms throughout its democratic and Soviet history (“The World Factbook: JAPAN”). Its unemployment rate is a matter of severe concern – currently at over 5.9% on average. This is quite low, but this is signatory of a larger problem – a lack of job flexibility thanks to cultural reasons (loyalty to a specific firm or office) as well as economic reasons (lack of jobs in general). This has caused employees in Japan to fear switching jobs on the off-chance there aren’t many left.

Environment

Thanks to climate protection policies, promotion of renewable energy and nuclear energy resources, and environment protection policies, 68.5% of their land is forest (“The World Factbook: JAPAN”). But still, per capita production of CO2 has been increasing (“Breathing Earth”). Along with pollution, Japan also struggles with earthquakes destroying their many nuclear reactors – this has a tendency to cause environmental damage and create health concerns for anyone nearby (“Fukushima Accident”). This also makes many miles of land that could otherwise be used to produce for the economy (or at least exist as a natural preserve) to be untouchable, and this has side-effects in other aspects of the nation as well.

Freedom of Speech

While Japan looks quite good in terms of freedom of speech with reference to their constitution, it ranks below Tanzania when ranked in terms of freedom of speech. With reference to an article by the LA times: The 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant set the stage for the erosion of press freedoms, Kingston said. “Japan’s slide in the rankings began with the incomplete coverage of the Fukushima meltdowns and the government’s efforts to downplay the accident; Tokyo Electric Power Company (and Japan) denied the triple meltdown for two months,” he said. “Sadly, the Japanese media went along with this charade because here it is all about access. Those media outlets that don’t toe the line find themselves marginalized by the powers that be. Since [Fukushima], Japan’s culture wars over history, constitutional revision and security doctrine have been fought on the media battlefield” (Adelstein). The same article does show evidence of the Abe administration cracking down on media organizations publishing and displaying negative images of the Prime Minister shortly after he abruptly left office.

Inequality

Japan has some of the smallest levels of inequality among developed nations. With a Gini coefficient of just 37.6, it may be the most equal of developed nations. This is because of government programs to tax the wealth of the richest families in Japan incessantly. For this reason, the wealth of the super rich in Japan generally disappears within three generations, and this has forced the new super rich to ‘flee’ to Singapore and other nearby nations where their estate and death taxes are much lower than in Japan (Koike). Culturally speaking, ostentatious displays of wealth are frowned upon even by the most wealthy people in the nation, thanks to societal pressures to conform to an almost homogeneous populace and very strict regulations on how much the salary of the people is monitored and controlled (Schlesinger).

On the whole

Japan is a fascinating country with some of the most advanced problems of any nation. For a nation as modernized and technologically superior to most others, it has a fascinating number of tradition-based problems that have easy, but socially difficult to accept policies. While Japan still has time to fix their problems – such as their negative population growth, occasional nuclear disasters, and other societal issues – it must grow out from its traditions and learn to be more compatible with change. This will be the key to Japan’s future success.

Ghana is a small nation in West Africa with a (literally) rich history and impressive past. Not to be confused with the Ghana Empire. As one can see:

(From: http://geocurrents.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Map_of_Modern_Ghana_Ghana_Empire.jpg)

Today, Ghana remains an important regional power in West Africa, with a relatively strong military, a competitive economy, and significant power on the global stage through the United Nations. Important individuals like Kofi Annan (former Secretary General of the United Nations) hail from this country. The King of the Ashanti (an Oxford educated leader who, in the past, would have ruled all of Ghana and its surrounding regions) also comes from this country, as the Ashanti Kingdom’s heart lies in this region. A diverse nation, it is surprisingly difficult to describe in a single blog post. So, I’ll be looking at the following aspects of a country to understand Ghana:

• Economic growth
• Health and life expectancy
• Education and literacy
• Environment
• Freedom of speech
• Inequality (culturally and also in terms of income)

Economic Growth

Today, Ghana’s GDP growth rate is among the highest in West Africa. Its most recent GDP growth report shows that it had a growth rate of around 1.10% in this past quarter (“Ghana GDP Growth Rate”). The country has a diverse and rich resource base with gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese being the most important source of foreign trade. It also has untapped fuel-resources – in 2007, an oilfield which may contain up to 3 billion barrels of light oil was discovered (“Ghana GDP Growth Rate”). Yet, in spite of abundance of natural resources, a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. Poverty is a problem that the government struggles to deal with in this country, as corporation and those in positions of power have a greater say and control over the direction of money-flow in this country (like in many developing nations).

Health and Life Expectancy

Life expectancy in Ghana for all citizens of this nation is 66.6 years (“The World Factbook: GHANA”). This is lower than the global average of 71.42 (“Life Expectancy”). Luckily, the government of Ghana is trying to do something about this. In Ghana, most healthcare is provided by the government – most recently expanded by the universal healthcare program known as NHIS (National Health Insurance Scheme) in 2003. This was set up in order to make more citizens able to afford quality healthcare and abolish ‘out-of-pocket’ payment for healthcare (Adinkrah). It is believed that as healthcare improves and life expectancy decreases the total fertility rate (also noted as TFR – it is the mean number of children per mother) of Ghanaians, which currently is around 4.03 per mother (“The World Factbook: GHANA”). Given that the ‘sustainable’ TFR for the world is 2.00 children per mother, Ghana has a way to go in order to meet this goal.

Education and Literacy

Like many developing countries, Ghana is still working toward a better education system and a more literate populace. Currently, around 76.6% of the total populace is educated, and the number is higher for men than it is for women (“The World Factbook: GHANA”). Through the UN’s efforts in the country, female literacy is gaining ground and slowly improving. The current unemployment rate in Ghana is around 11.2% – which is higher than the government there would like it, but as small businesses take off in this rapidly changing country, this probably won’t last as a problem (“The World Factbook: GHANA”).

Environment

Due to rapid development, the Ghanaian forest coverage has reduced to 21.2% of the country’s total area (“The World Factbook: GHANA”). Almost 70% of the country’s land is used for agricultural purposes, and the remainder of the land is used for ‘other’ purposes (“The World Factbook: GHANA”). This is typical for a developing nation, but as Ghana industrializes, it is feared that the environment in Ghana will take a greater toll on its massive river systems and diverse wildlife. There is already plenty of evidence that poaching has wreaked havoc on the wildlife in Ghana, and it is argued that the government has not done enough to protect endangered species there.

Freedom of Speech

Being a nation with relatively low average incomes, it is quite difficult to administer free speech in a country like Ghana. That being said, Ghana’s current constitution holds the freedom of speech very dear (Adams). They have also consistently voted in favor of General Assembly resolutions favoring free speech and human rights, as well as free speech as a basic human right (Adams).

Inequality

Although the Gini coefficient of inequality in Ghana is rising (it is currently at 42.8, which is considered to be ‘medium’ at the moment), because of progressive government programs, and also a lack of overall wealth amongst the people in general. The wealthiest people in the country are those that control the country’s reserves of precious metals and more. Thanks to corruption and more, the government, the UN, and other NGOs have had limited success in this country, that has a human development index to be set at 0.579 (“Ghana”). While 0.579 categorizes Ghana as a middle income country, on the ground it is not. One of the main components of HDI is GDP per capita, and because the GDP is inflated due to the country’s precious metal production, the GDP per capita is high as well. However, not much of that money trickles down to the people of Ghana, which explains the inequalities and development problems that exist in the country. If this is dealt with effectively, organizations will be able to improve the quality of life for all in Ghana much more rapidly.

On the whole

I think that Ghana is a fine example of a developing country trying to do its best to become a nation that can compete on the global stage economically, as it already can on a geopolitical level. They have much left to improve in almost every aspect of their country, but they are making fruitful progress without sacrificing too many human rights, and their commitment to free-speech is definitely evidence that this is a nation with plenty of potential. Despite several missteps and struggles in the past, this country is an exemplar of a perseverance and strength – even in uncertain times like this.