The White Man's Burden Hardback - 2006
by Easterly, William
An informed and excoriating attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward.
William Easterly's The White Man's Burden is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We'll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second.
The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one "big new idea" after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. Could it be that we don't know as much as we think we do about the magic spells that will open the door to the road to wealth?
Absolutely, William Easterly thunders in this angry, irreverent, and important book. He contrasts two approaches: (1) the ineffective planners' approach to development-never able to marshal enough knowledge or motivation to get the overambitious plans implemented to attain the plan's arbitrary targets and (2) a more constructive searchers' approach-always on the lookout for piecemeal improvements to poor peoples' well-being, with a system to get more aid resources to those who find things that work. Once we shift power and money from planners to searchers, there's much we can do that's focused and pragmatic to improve the lot of millions, such as public health, sanitation, education, roads, and nutrition initiatives. We need to face our own history of ineptitude and learn our lessons, especially at a time when the question of our ability to "build democracy," to transplant the institutions of our civil society into foreign soil so that they take root, has become one of the most pressing we face.
Details
- Title The White Man's Burden
- Author Easterly, William
- Binding Hardback
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 448
- Language EN
- Publisher Penguin Press HC, The, New York
- Date 2006-03-16
- ISBN 9781594200373
More Copies for Sale
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
- Item Price
-
$1.49$3.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
- Item Price
-
$1.99$3.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by William Easterly
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - GOOD
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 5
- Seller
-
Toledo, Ohio, United States
- Item Price
-
$2.75$3.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden : Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, United States
- Item Price
-
$5.00FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- Condition
- UsedGood
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Imperial, Missouri, United States
- Item Price
-
$5.24FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden : Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, United States
- Item Price
-
$5.87FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by Easterly, William
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.01FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden : Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by William Easterly
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.01FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden : Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by William Easterly
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.01FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The White Man's Burden : Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
by William Easterly
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 13
- 9781594200373
- ISBN 10
- 1594200378
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.01FREE shipping to USA