Slightly Socialistic

A touch of Latin American Socialism… kinda like Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, if you will, is looking good these days. Brazil has been on a tear to stamp out hunger. The Christian Science Monitor has a progress report in yesterday’s online edition.

I like Brazil for several reasons, so much so that I even invest a bit in them as a promising “emerging market.” I like the fact that they have done a lot to utilize ethanol without the kind of huge subsidies we give here in the U.S. I like their growth rate and sensible (for Latin America) business policies. Of course, there’s a lot not to like, but hey… One of the things I don’t like is their poverty level. So here’s the good news (excerpted from the CSM).

Brazil is the world's fourth-largest food exporter, but more than 40 million Brazilians - a quarter of the population - lived below the poverty line, prompting President Lula da Silva to vow (in 2003) to stamp out hunger by December 2006. This June, the government said it had surpassed its goal, reaching 11.1 million families.

In January, a delegation of government officials from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and Zambia visited Brazil to learn about the Family Grant program. Kathy Lindert, a World Bank economist based in Brasilia, calls Brazil a "superstar" in exporting its program to Latin American and African countries.

Supporters, including the World Bank and USAID, say it provides a model that can transcend national boundaries, showing countries how to streamline bureaucracies and give individuals skills to pull themselves out of poverty.

Check out the whole article and see if you don’t agree that a little socialism is the right prescription in some cases. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0911/p04s01-woam.html?s=hns

Comments

Duff said…
Brazil stood its ground in non bowing to US Pressure to vote for the upcoming proposed sanctions on Iran.

It shows a major change in the relations and that the influence of the CIA and other operations in the region has been scaled back at least in terms of efficacy substantially in the last 20 years and more profoudly in the last 40 years.

I think that 2 terms of Reagan, and 3 terms of Bush turned the Latin American population strongly away from US supported military dictators and that some enlightened self interest is definitely showing signs of true democratic development.

I personally believe that we need strong sanctions on Iran for not cooperating in the proposed programs of the Security council but I still admire Brazil's guts in standing up to the US Military Giant.
12:50 PM
Scooter Duff (really Willis) making an audiobook of his "MIZ, Time Tripping With Amazing Females," which you can listen to free on YouTube. said…
Hey, Duff. (Love your beer.) I agree re Iran. I feel a little nationalistic miff that Brazil won't vote for the tougher sanctions, but it's an argument for a more enlightened foreign policy on our part. Historically retroactive, of course.
1:16 PM
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