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A comment on The human cost of the Kindle. Parent comment

Re:The human cost of the Kindle by djsumdog on Saturday June 09, 2018 @11:17PM (#17276249)
You should read The Dictator's Handbook. Tariffs and Foreign Aid server one purpose: to help democracies impose non-democratic policies in those countries.

The US/EU/UK give foreign aid to States with resources they want. Thereby keeping autocrats in power (they take a huge cut of that aid; people typically get the scraps after they pay off essential supporters and generals).

Foreign policy is always about resource management and almost always helps keep autocrats in power. When the nation runs out of resources and aid is cut, it typically promotes democratization because the leader can no longer pay supporters. They have to appeal to the people and increase the influence selectorate size. If they don't and the people rise up, they'll often win if the leader doesn't find a way to pay the police/army.

States (both democratic and autocratic) exist because they have a monopoly on violence. Foreign aid really only helps autocrats maintain that monopoly.

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Re:The human cost of the Kindle by jeffreyrogers on Saturday June 09, 2018 @11:41PM (#17276342)
Most places with autocrats have no tradition of democracy and removing the autocrats often leads to civil war. This has been a recurring theme in Africa over the last half century. The West has made some disastrous foreign policy decisions, but I think the idea that we keep autocrats in power solely to extract foreign resources is not supported by the evidence.

Also, here's a list of recipients of US foreign aid[0]. I don't see an obvious connection between material wealth and amount of aid spent.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_foreign_aid#Over...

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Re:The human cost of the Kindle by colechristensen on Saturday June 09, 2018 @11:45PM (#17276356)
While I don't doubt much of this has truth, it's a bit of a one dimensional look at foreign and trade policy. Nothing world powers do has "one purpose". Motivations, intentions, and outcomes are manifold.

States don't exist because they have a monopoly on violence, it is just that a (at least semi-) monopoly on violence is a core trait of a state. Statehood is the evolutionarily stable outcome of any geographic population so far. An area without a state will, without exception, develop one.

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