Dear Readers:
The request has rekinded for me a concern that has been exhausted on this List regarding Foreign Aid. As an African and South African I am not excited about the the involvement of the USIA in the educational system of any developing country. The goals of the American educational sytem are in my opinion an antithesis to fostering intellectual, economic, social and political independence of developing countries. At best they sow the seeds of institutional subversion and instability.
Contrary to the self professed intentions of the USIA (which by the way is the same Agency that beams Radio and TV Marti into Cuba) that it seeks to combat illiteracy and ignorance and now unemployment, is ideological agenda and economic theory being shoved down the throats of backward nations. Also, with American education comes the extolled images of the capitalist West as being superior because of its command of technologies and science.
Despite its virtue of being a world hegemon and having economic interest around the globe, the US has a secure and long-held nationalistic orientation. The question for those people care about the fate of their countries is how to combat this threat of mind control and social engineering, whose objective is to create a receptive enviroment for cheaps US goods and values.
I already see trade bringing in competition, All can be desired for a good life, And in return extracting from different regions the immense treasures offered by our climes, And diligent industry actively exploiting the raw materials. . .
El Correo Mercantil in 1822
Thami
New School for Social Research
Department of Economics
New York.