from Hacker News

Trust, Slavery and the African School of Economics

by gauravsc on 6/26/20, 11:10 AM with 88 comments

  • by noworriesnate on 6/26/20, 1:16 PM

    > A trip to Albania ended his blind affection for socialism.

    Traveling the world is probably the best way of educating people about human issues. I wonder if we replaced the first two years of college in America (general education stuff) with a trip around the world, what would happen?

    I was talking to a friend from a third world country about this and I mentioned that VR has the potential to open people's eyes about human conditions around the world. And he said, "Nope. That's a terrible idea." I asked why and he said, "VR can't convey suffering."

    Let's say, for sake of argument, that it costs $50,000 to send one student around the world. That's within an order of magnitude for most colleges for the first two years. Plus, it would drop due to economies of scale (also since we're talking about huge numbers of students, we could use boats instead).

  • by AnthonBerg on 6/26/20, 2:45 PM

    "The words struck a chord with Mr Wantchekon. Now a professor at Princeton University, he was born in Zagnanado in central Benin. Some of the music he listened to in his youth—such as that of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou—had songs that warned against trusting those close to you."

    I checked; The music is ... astoundingly beautiful. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hzzC6W1jnkn6x6RyutlB3?si=Zd...

  • by roenxi on 6/26/20, 12:52 PM

    Articles like this break my heart. The thing that stops ideas like the ones in this article taking root are, ultimately, the beliefs of ordinary people.

    The real secret of education is it is the only method humanity has discovered to stop people making the same stupid mistakes every single generation like all the other animals.

    There is a remarkable strategy for being very successful: identify and stop doing things that cause failure. It isn't the silver bullet but as strategies go more people should try it. Instead, everyone goes along with joining personality cults.

  • by neonate on 6/26/20, 6:36 PM

  • by rayiner on 6/26/20, 2:36 PM

    > Another result of Mr Wantchekon’s political past is a preference for empiricism over ideology. A trip to Albania ended his blind affection for socialism. His school is not part of efforts to “decolonise” the African academy. Any student of politics must read Rousseau and Madison, he argues. The aim is to add to the sum of human knowledge, not subtract from it. “Be angry but also be thoughtful,” he says.

    This is something that should be impressed upon all the Americans who throw around the term “decolonization.” What would “decolonizing” say Bangladesh (where I am from) mean? Should we abandon the use of English? Dismantle our Supreme Court, an institution we inherited from the British? Dismantle our legal system built on British common law, or our constitution built on the American constitution and the Magna Carta? Abandon capitalism and free markets (which 80%+ of the population support because it has revolutionized the country)? Abandon western ideas like religious freedom, secularism, feminism, individualism, etc? What would we replace those things with?

  • by artsyca on 6/26/20, 12:54 PM

    Slavery and branding are two things which predate recorded history.

    We pretend like anything has changed but in actual fact the same rules apply as always.

    Money alone is enough to set the world in motion. If you value peace prepare for war. The only way to make any money is to sell the fruits of someone else's labour. You can't buy loyalty.

  • by edoo on 6/26/20, 2:29 PM

    This is very prescient as right now the radical leftists are busy destroying the icons of anti-slavery and black success. Marxist's always destroy the good history when they take control. If you don't know where you are from you can be led anywhere. We'll see slavery again in this country if we forget our past.

  • by madballster on 6/26/20, 3:50 PM

    "data-mining skills" -- I cringed at this phrase used by the journalist. Data mining is not a worthwhile skill, in fact its more of an insult. It's a curse any scientist worth his salt tries to avoid.