I agree with the site that you've posted in that individual action is required and we cannot really depend on governmental action, or governmental action needs a whole lot of oversight. I agree fully that the issues need local action, local support and local skill sets and knowledge. That is why I'm still hanging in there in this specific thread.
I would need much more time to figure out what they really mean in terms of statements such as 'An understanding that private property encourages private responsibility' and 'An understanding that more economic freedom permits more responsible individual action'. These statements touch on ideology and I'm working very hard to keep ideology out of this discussion and to get the Dominican Republic into this discussion, on a real practical level.
By definition, we will most probably differ in ideology. Just read the DR1 and you'll see many many questions where typical First World Westerners are asking questions about the Dominicans, their ways, what they believe and so on. In many areas of the world private property ownership is simply not possible, let alone the fact that some communities function better (and worse in some cases) in sensible community groups. For the area of the world where this organization wants to work, what they want to do may be valid. I have no idea. People that are active in grassroots NGO's in rural and developing worlds can certainly tell you that community groups are very effective in accomplishing the goals of a community. In fact, they will tell you that if you do not have community support for an initiative, it will fail.
Again, I want to narrow down this discussion on the Dominican Republic and the actual expected physical and geographical changes that we may encounter. We all have different ideologies.
|