Chapter 1781 Give them the money and use it to play mahjong
Xiao Peng flicked the ash off his cigarette as he looked at the two of them. "Are you guys trying to test me?... Well, I'm just an ordinary citizen. I can't compare to the vision of those national leaders. I can only tell you from my perspective as an ordinary citizen. Is that okay?"
"Of course. I'd love to." said Nouf.
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "I've been to Africa, Europe, and North America, and I've found that there are roughly three models for poverty alleviation in these three places: the wait-for-rescue model, the Anglo-American model, and the German model."
Nouf said, "I'd like to hear the details."
Xiao Peng explained: "The most common poverty alleviation model in Africa is the so-called 'wait for rescue model'. If you go to those third world countries in Africa, you will find that there are NGOs everywhere, that is, those so-called 'non-governmental organizations'. They talk about charity but do business. Many NGOs are local business tycoons. Let me give you a simple example. When I was in Nigeria, I met an NGO organization mainly composed of French businessmen. It is called the 'Nigerian Rural Promotion Committee', which can be abbreviated as NBAC. It claims to be the largest NGO in the world. It says that they have 120,000 employees and provide services to villages in more than ten countries. Anyway, I don’t know about other places. In Nigeria, they have their own offices, schools, and banks. They have accepted donations from the European Union, Australia, and the United Nations. They are known as the 'second government' of rural Nigeria and provide microfinance loan services to farmers there. They say it is feasible. They claim to solve the poverty problem and improve the lives of the local poor, but it's like a credit card! The Nigerians who use their financial services are only getting poorer—and across Africa, there are at least 80,000 NGOs like theirs! They all claim to improve the lives of the locals, but what's the result? So many NGOs receive countless donations in impoverished countries and seemingly spend countless sums in the relief efforts, but not a single NGO in Africa can produce a model community with good sanitation, quality drinking water, food that guarantees good nutrition for the people, and a public healthcare system! Forget it, let me just say this: on every continent on this planet, wherever there's an NGO responsible for poverty alleviation, there's not a single community like this! Instead, the managers of these NGOs return home with fortunes they couldn't possibly earn doing anything else!
"Why is this happening?" asked Nouf.
Xiao Peng replied: "It's very simple. Those poor countries basically have problems with their systems. Even with the same investment promotion, a large amount of investment in those countries will be monopolized by a very small number of powerful people. How can this help alleviate poverty?"
Usmanov nodded when he heard this. "I feel deeply about this. The consequences of touching the interests of the powerful are terrible. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."
Xiao Peng snapped his fingers. "No matter how famous the NOGs are or how high-sounding their slogans are, what they do can basically be understood as a modern-day replica of the East India Company during the Age of Exploration. Our country has suffered such losses before, so we naturally won't do it again."
Noufu asked in confusion, "Have you ever suffered such a big loss?"
Xiao Peng nodded. "During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, a large number of missionaries entered Daxia. Uh, actually, they did the same thing in Latin America and Africa. Those missionaries talked about bringing faith to the uncivilized, but when they returned home, they didn't return empty-handed. They brought back a lot of wealth, claiming it was donations from believers, but wasn't that just a means of plundering wealth? NGOs are the same way. They talk about it, but they're really just doing business. Take that NBAC I mentioned. It seems they're running a microfinance loan program to serve the local poor, but they make money from three sources: donations from various sources, local government subsidies, and the lenders' own interest rates. In the end, the poor are the ones who suffer, and it doesn't help alleviate poverty at all."
After digesting Xiao Peng's words, Nouf said, "What about the Anglo-American model?"
Xiao Peng laughed after hearing this. He put out his cigarette and said, "That's even more of a joke. Have you read Dickens' Oliver Twist?"
Nouf nodded: "I have seen it."
After hearing this, Xiao Peng said, "Then you should remember the poorhouse inside, right?"
The protagonist of the novel, Oliver, grew up in a workhouse and suffered all kinds of abuse there. He fled to London because he could not bear the abuse there. Even the villain Bumblebee was eventually dismissed from all his jobs and sent to a workhouse to spend the rest of his life.
This workhouse is obviously a place to help the poor, but in Dickens's writing it is a hell - in fact, he is not exaggerating.
Nouf said, "That was a hundred and fifty or sixty years ago. There are no workhouses now."
Xiao Peng shook his head: "It is true that there are no workhouses anymore, but their poverty alleviation policies have basically not changed. They are still continuing the path of the past. You see, those countries are just like you. It's not that they don't want to help the poor. In fact, they have been exploring solutions to the poverty problem for a longer time. Look, Britain had workhouses almost 200 years ago to help the poor, but what was the result? Either they blame poverty on laziness, or they just pay money and end up going in the wrong direction. Just like when Germany was hit by the floods last year, they gave 5,000 euros to each of the victims. This made some people in our country jealous. At that time, Henan Province in our country was also affected by the disaster, and there were people mocking them every day. "No money is distributed domestically." Does rebuilding homes cost money? Resettling disaster victims costs money? Property damage compensation costs money? Our country is focusing all its efforts on this. Rural revitalization departments in cities and counties are immediately investigating those who have fallen back into poverty due to the floods. If there is immediate targeted poverty alleviation and targeted support, this is our national model for poverty alleviation. Addressing problems as they arise is always a long-term approach, surpassing those keyboard warriors who only care about money. Let me put it this way: even if we give them money, they might immediately squander it on mahjong, then, when it's all gone, complain about not having enough and wanting more. Don't refute me, this is human nature. The flaws in the current Anglo-American poverty alleviation strategies are a perfect example of this."
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Novuf was confused after hearing this.
Xiao Peng gave the answer: "Because their poverty alleviation model is to help the rich rather than the poor. Their solution to the poverty of the poor is to give money to the rich."
Usmanov was so shocked after hearing what Xiao Peng said that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time. Finally, he said, "Mr. Xiao, are you kidding?"
After hearing what Xiao Peng said, Noufu understood what Xiao Peng meant: "Mr. Xiao, I think I understand why you say that their poverty alleviation policy is still the 'poorhouse' model!"
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