Wow, you have changed

Has anybody ever said that to you?

An overarching theme in my African Politics class is the idea of growth vs. development. A lot of times, we tend to equate the two. But if you look at empirical evidence, you see that just because a country's economy is growing doesn't mean that the country is developing infrastructure or improving education or sending its girls to school or remedying its human rights record. Economic gains have a way of getting tied up at the top and confusing an already-confused social and economic order. So a country might look good on paper, say, enough to stamp its monthly reports to the IMF, enough to end up on the cover of Newsweek with a headline that reads, "Why the world is looking to (insert nation here)." Meanwhile, life hasn't actually gotten any better for 97% of the population, and all it takes is one pull-quote in the New York Times a month or two down the road that reads, "We were better off before they came in and changed everything," under a picture of something burning in a street or a mother kneeling over her innocent son for the rest of the world to stop a minute, set down their collective cup of breakfast blend and concede, "ooh.. touche."

That's how a semester abroad is treating me right now.

I need microfinance.