Chapter 23: Second Half

In the second half of the 20th century the countries in Southeast Asia and Africa also threw off colonial control and became independent. As these countries moved towards independence they faced many difficulties such as extreme poverty, lack of education and weak institutions and lack of infrastructure. Many of the countries did not follow a democratic western model as they gained their independence. Countries such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, Zimbabwe were attracted to a Marxist/communist model for their new governments. I can understand why these countries would be attracted to a system that wanted to get rid of classes separated by wealth with built in inequalities. In the communist model there was an idea of the land itself did not belong to individual owners but the people themselves. Many of the African and Asian countries did not want to model themselves on the western nations who claimed they were democratic but who had ruled the colonies in a way that kept down the Native populations. Some of the countries that followed the communist model did achieve land reform and industrialization such as in China. In communist Cuba a country that is so despised in the United States the communist government wiped out illiteracy and provided basic health care to the entire population making the life expectancy in Cuba the equal of that of the United States. The collapse of the Soviet Union challenged the communist models in many former colonies and countries such as China started to put in market reforms. Central planning which was so important to many of the former colonies started to change into a more capitalist system where private ownership and private wealth became more important. In China and India this led to fast economic growth but also growing inequalities. These inequalities are very obvious today it seems that everyday in the paper there is some new scandal about corruption among Chinese or Russian or Indian officials who have used their positions to gain enormous wealth while the majority of the populations is struggling. It may be that everywhere we are in a time of growing inequality almost like taking a step backward in time. In the United States the gap between the wealthiest one percent of the population and everyone else is at a new high. In the Middle East, the anti-colonial movements started off in places such as Turkey as Nationalistic and secular. Recently Islam has become a powerful political force. In Iran the Shaw who the United States who helped put in power ruled with an iron hand but also was in favor of Modernization and redistribution of land to many or the poor peasants.  Many people felt only the oppression of the dictatorship and lack of freedom. They turned against the Western Orientation and brought about and Islamic revolution where religion and politics are joined together in a highly conservative regime. While it is hard for me as someone who has experienced freedom of religion (although this seems to be getting weaker) it is a challenge to understand a turn towards religious Islamic fundamentalism that is a especially harsh and limiting for women.