RE: What would you do if you could quit?
The problem you're describing is something that afflicts the majority of countries in the world. It really does not even demand an explanation. The lack of trust and trustworthiness outside the immediate circle of (extended) family and friends is the natural state of things towards which any society will gravitate unless there is something to maintain things at a higher (yet more fragile) level of trust.
What really demands an explanation is why high-trust societies exist at all. Northwestern Europe and the colonies of northwestern European countries such as New Zealand, Australia, the USA and Canada are among those countries where corruption is at a level to not be a major disruptive social force. Make no mistake, there is corruption in those countries, too, but it is much more subtle and less egregious than people living in most of the world have told me. What makes people in those countries not game the system more aggressively? How did that state of affairs manage to come about in the first place?
I suspect it has to do with a combination of the right circumstances arising at the right time. Cohesive groups larger than the family emerged each vying for power but eventually being forced to share power and agreeing on a set of rules to be followed. Perhaps the most encouraging examples outside of the West where this process can repeat itself are Taiwan and South Korea. Neither started out as a stable democracy where political parties or factions alternated between governing and being in opposition with smooth transitions with confidence in not being excluded from power forever after stepping down voluntarily.
Thanks for your contribution, but you surely have no idea about the level of corruption in African countries. It’s very bad, that’s why nothing gets done. If funds are provided to construct a road in most western countries, they might take some money and construct a less fancy road with cheaper materials. In African countries, they steal all the money.
I think Cameroon is still learning corruption compared to Nigeria,
It is in Nigeria you will hear that a snake swallowed 36 million naira. Politician now use burial grounds to store their stolen money. It is here that lwas enforcers are the first law breaker.
it is in Nigeria an IG of police refused to obligue call to the senate for briefing.
It is in Nigeria that some heartless individual enrich themselves at the detriments of internally displaced persons. Buying and supplying food items from ghost vendors.
A whole lot to be done in Africa.
Very funny @hillary. I’m truly hopeful and believe that better days are to come.
Yes, @leggy23....I am hopeful too that the genuine internal change we need wiill eventually come.
It's the African situation precisely that doesn't require any explanation at all. And yes, I know how bad it can be. A cousin of mine spent a year as an exchange student in Namibia. It was a lesson in how to live in a state of total lack of trust. The circle of trust in many African countries appears to include family members and friends exclusively. From that perspective, it is perfectly logical and, in fact, the right thing to do towards the only people who matter to steal as much as possible if some strangers have been foolish enough to entrust any money in one's custody. It is the African situation that is the natural order of things and makes perfect game theoretical sense. Everybody following "Always betray" in a tournament of Prisoners Dilemma is a Nash equilibrium, that is, a state where nobody has anything to gain by changing strategy. It is a truly hopeless state of affairs unless something radical comes along.
I believe that one game changer could be the blockchain or other cryptographically secure distributed ledger technologies designed to produce consensus in a fully trustless environment. If Africans are unable to build mutual trust(worthiness), then their next best alternative is to rely on distributed consensus algorithms designed to work even if every actor is assumed to be hostile.
Very nice comments on game theory, thank you!
Game theory applied to society is a very interesting subject matter. One must always remember its limitations, of course. There are many lessons to be learned.
Not sure what game theory is, but like you said blockchain technology might be the game changer for African countries in many ways.
I already will probably start using more crypto currency as a means to send money to family instead of western union and money gram. I pay less fees too.
Game theory is the study of games. Many situations can be modeled using game theory as representing one type of a game or another. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that can be applied in economics, for example.
Are there crypto brokers in Cameroon that would allow your family members to exchange crypto for fiat?
My brother uses some website on his phone to convert crypto to Ugandan shillings.
Does he get the Ugandan shillings transferred to his bank account in Cameroon?
I agree people need to start calling the gov on this, but it's so difficult. Most governments in Africa are violent dictatorships, they will resort to anything they like to have their way..
So the Agorism we learn regarding this is to simply teach people to bypass their governments to get things done ;-)
If you read what Dan has to say on the subject, listen to his interviews, it's incredible how much this thinking has gone into the Steam blockchain and his other projects.
More than anything simply showing people the new communication tools that allow them to organize without impediments, and raise funds online with out banks, these are huge new tools that simply require everyone to understand and begin using.
It seems that you were talking about Venezuela with that friendly example @leggy23.From before this crisis happened the funds deviated in this way "with labor and cheap materials".... The friend Markku is right, most of the countries with bad abmanation this kind of thing happens.
I am ashamed to tell you that Africa has the longest serving presidents. Imagine having presidents ruling his country of less 2 million people for 38 years. It is very sad. Power transitioning is very difficult in Africa. I will be glad if you could cover longest-serving presidents in your bedtime facts.
That's a great idea. Monarchs should be excluded because their position is usually hereditary and life-long barring serious health issues combined with an eager heir to the throne lined up.
That is good. They should. I am surprised Monarchy still reigns over countries these days though.
I wasn't expressing any kind of a political opinion but saying that to make a list of heads of state who have held the office the longest it would make sense to exclude monarchs for the reason that very long presidencies are usually a symptom of something gone wrong in the political system whereas a monarch can be a completely apolitical figure without power like Elisabeth II of the United Kingdom.