Why Taking Development to the People is a Fallacy
Based on examples from Kenya and elsewhere, discuss why taking development to the people is a fallacy.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 DEVELOPMENT
Development is defined as the process of improvement in the wellbeing of people, improving their education, health, land, shelter, and other related aspects. It is also opening out to them equal opportunities to richer and more valid life.
It also involves an increase in the national economy, increase in capacity of a political system, change and growth, qualities of standards of living of people and advancement in science and technology.
Todaro, (1992), describes development as the process of improving the quality of all human lives. Three equally important aspects of development include raising people’s living levels, that is their incomes and consumption levels of food, medical services, education and others, through relevant economic growth processes, creating conditions conducive to the growth of people’s self-esteem through establishments of social, political and economic systems and institutions that promote human dignity and respect and increasing people’s freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables for instance increasing varieties of consumer goods and services. According to an article by the World Bank, recent United Nations documents describe development as “human development,” measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education, as well as people’s average income, which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. It is true that economic growth, by increasing a nation’s total wealth, also enhances its potential for reducing poverty and solving other social problems. Nevertheless, history offers a number of examples where economic growth was not followed by similar progress in human development. Instead, growth was achieved at the cost of greater inequality, higher unemployment, weakened democracy, loss of cultural identity, or overconsumption
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 DEVELOPMENT
Development is defined as the process of improvement in the wellbeing of people, improving their education, health, land, shelter, and other related aspects. It is also opening out to them equal opportunities to richer and more valid life.
It also involves an increase in the national economy, increase in capacity of a political system, change and growth, qualities of standards of living of people and advancement in science and technology.
Todaro, (1992), describes development as the process of improving the quality of all human lives. Three equally important aspects of development include raising people’s living levels, that is their incomes and consumption levels of food, medical services, education and others, through relevant economic growth processes, creating conditions conducive to the growth of people’s self-esteem through establishments of social, political and economic systems and institutions that promote human dignity and respect and increasing people’s freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables for instance increasing varieties of consumer goods and services. According to an article by the World Bank, recent United Nations documents describe development as “human development,” measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education, as well as people’s average income, which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. It is true that economic growth, by increasing a nation’s total wealth, also enhances its potential for reducing poverty and solving other social problems. Nevertheless, history offers a number of examples where economic growth was not followed by similar progress in human development. Instead, growth was achieved at the cost of greater inequality, higher unemployment, weakened democracy, loss of cultural identity, or overconsumption