Day 6: I think very few would know what to do...

Developed vs. Developing Countries

What does that mean exactly? The UN describes it as a certain amout of income per capita. So a high GDP (gross domestic product) indicates a developed country. Furthermore industrialization is a criteria for which a country is defined. But, there is also a new addition to developed vs. developing countries and this term is called HDI (Human Development Index). It includes life expectancy and level of education as well as a few other things.

The term is intended for statistical convenience, not for judgement upon a country's stage of development.

With that said. Look a the map to the left indicating developing countries in yellow. Peru is one of them, and as a matter of fact a larger portion of the world is marked in yellow. Today I realized how little I know about developing countries. Economic growth, employment, politics, foreign trade, construction and so much more contrast the way people in developing countries live a day to day life compared to how developed countries perform these functions.

I think very few professionals in developed countries have received adequate training and knowledge on how to perform the same service in a developing country, and therefore many times, not intentially, make things worse when attempting to do good.

I have nothing to back that statement up with, just a slap in the face feeling as I realized how very different education here is compared to both Sweden, where I am from, and the US where I live in transition. Take sustainable development for instance. How shall the developing countries approach this topic? When in reality, their daily life is not formed around that concept. Social vulnerability is higher due to this because there is a lack of education in measures to take to protect themselves long term, fed by the financial aspect of little funds and lack of livelihoods organization tying short term together with long term goals for regions.

The pictures show a country in constant development. The people are very skilled in patching up unfinished construction work, leaving openings for later additions and keeping building materials somewhat safely stored on roof-tops. I have yet to figure out what the waterbottles on the roof are used for, but I'm sure they are there for some ingenious reason.

People around the world become very skilled in the area which pose the biggest barrier to them on a daily basis. As capitalism is the basis for how finances and politics is run in the US, then people living there learn very well how to make barriers such as lawsuits, rules for rules and revenue focus work in their favor. If a country is socialized, like Sweden, then barriers such as high taxes and balancing equality become the focus of attention and people become aware of how to best utilize this framework.

In Lima, it seems as if the focus on national finance and politics have become so strong and prioritized that they left the international possibilities aside for other countries to manage.

In all reality, do countries identify themselves culturally and socially with whether they are developed or not? Because if so, has the UN's intention of not placing judgement on a country but rather conveniently differentiate between developed and developing gone array?