Islamic Studies Coursework:
(ii) Explain the need for world development
Development
The word development can mean advance, betterment, change, gain growth, improvement, increase, progress and building. World development is the improvement in education, the environment & also health services.
Development is a measure of how rich or poor a country is. The reason why need development is because if the world isn’t improving in anyway there will be no progress and therefore there is no net result. If in poorer countries the percentage of people who are educated is low then the environment which is already in a bad state will remain in a bad state and the health services will also suffer. It is only ifthe world developschange will take place. There is a chain of links if one of these is weak the rest will be (e.g. if there is a lack of education or poor education then health services suffer, the environment and also less people will be able to get educated in the future because there will be few people who are able to teach others)
World classification
Generally the West classifies the world in three groups:
*The first world: These are countries such as North America, they are economically more developed.
*The second world: These are the economically less developed countries such as Brazil.
*The third world: These are the economically least developed countries most of the countries in the African continent would fit into this category.
Factors determining World Classification
To classify whether a country is first world, second world or third world we use the following factors:
*Economic growth – measured by something known as (the GNP) or Gross
National Product per Capita. This is the total amount of goods produced by the country annually divided by the population. If a country proportionally has less goods
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how many people there are this makes the GNP low. If this is the case the country will be a less developed country.
*Increased use of resources – use of what a country has in supply. A third world country will have least increased use of resources.
*Modernisation – Use of modern technology e.g. use of solar power.
*Technology – The use of modern technology such as mobiles, internet, computers and televisions. It isn’t possible for a third world country to use modern technology yet have little to eat. The reason for this is because all this modern technology will cost extra money which countries in third world don’t have.
*Political freedom – this means whether people can go against the present government. In corrupt countries people aren’t allowed to tell others that the government is involved in fraud or the rulers are selfish and are bothered about the country. In the first people are allowed to express themselves politically through such things such as protests.In corrupt countries there may be harsh punishments even to show opposition to the present government
*Population growth – In poorer countries which are less developed there is a high population because of high birth rates & many problems are caused to care for this high population. In the first world however the population growth is stable whereas in the third world the population growth is out of control and is increasing at a very high rate.
*Life expectancy – average number of years a person can expect to live on average.
In LEDCs a person‘s life expectancy is lower than in an MEDC.
*Health – some of these factors are connected such as health, life expectancy and education. If there is a lack of education the healthcare will remain poor and therefore life expectancy is lowered. In an LEDC there are few doctors & hospitals to look after a huge population. Many people don’t even know what a good diet should consist of so they are easily infected by drinking dirty water.
*Education – This is another factor that is linked with health and life expectancy.
If a countries’ population a has poor education then there is no chance there will
be less chance health services will be good. Also poor education means people don’t
know about the dangers of things such as contaminated water e .t .c. In MEDCs education is well funded so people are educated to a high standard. All people in MEDCs
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have the opportunity to go to school. Many also go on to further education whereas in LEDCs is usually only part time thing and not a 9 – 4 like in MEDCs. Nearly all adults
can read and write. All these factors that measure whether a country is rich is 1st, 2nd or 3rd world. These factors are known as ‘social factors’ in Geographical terms. Usually those countries that are developed have a high percentage of people who are educated but in a less developed country the percentage of people who are educated will be low. In the poorer countries there is a shortage of schools, teachers and resources.
*Urbanisation – this is the increase of the proportion of people living in towns & cities. More than half of the world’s population live in cities this number is increasing all the time. In poorer countries people live in rural areas (the countryside) whereas in the richer developed countries people live in cities.
*Income distribution – How people are paid for different jobs. In an MEDC money is distributed in quite a fair way but in LEDCs there is a huge difference so people doing simple jobs will be paid very little. If the gap between rich and poor is large this means the country is a developing country. If there is a smaller gap the country is a developed country. People who do jobs that don’t need qualifications are paid a small amount whereas those who are qualified professionals such as doctors, nurses and dentists will be
paid a higher salary because there are very few people who have professional jobs and there is a greater need for them. In a developed country the gap between the rich and poor is small.
*Energy consumption – Energy consumption means how much energy is used. In MEDCs the amount of energy used is higher than those in LEDCs because MEDCs can afford to use more.
LEDCS and MEDCS
Another classification is measured by the wealth a country has. There are two sections for classification the first is ‘Economically More Developed Countries’ (MEDCs) and the second is known as ‘Economically Less Developed Countries’ (LEDCs).
Reasons why some countries are LEDCs while others are MEDCs
The reason why some countries are LEDCs and others are MEDCs is due to things such as war. In African countries and parts of Asia the neighbouring countries are at war. It’s because of war that these countries remain LEDCs because they can’t develop. The economy isn’t able to improve when the country looses huge amounts of money on way and also the country has to rebuild what has been destroyed making development impossible because the can only just about remain at the same level. The countries’
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development can be described as stationary because the country isn’t advancing nor is it going backwards. If there is a country that is an LEDC and is suddenly involved in a war this makes development very difficult. It isn’t just neighbouring countries at war sometimes within the same country there is a civil war between two opposing sides who
both want to rule. The reason for civil war in African countries is because one African race is in both countries. This causes the ruling race to treat the other race badly causing further hatred in the future. Civil wars also took place in Europe because different parts of Yugoslavia were given independence. Examples of wars between neighbouring countries are the following:Somalia and Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Russia. These wars are caused by corruption as well as political differences. In Mozambique, Angola and Guatemala wars took place because of political differences as well as corruption. The effects of wars are disastrous they cause the destruction of crops, homes, schools and airports which worsens the country that is already poverty stricken. People may even have to flee their homes and become refugees in other countries that are safe. Even though the refugees have improved their lives, the sudden influx of refugees who are without money or food can cause the country that has been developing to become poor again.
Natural Disasters
Another reason why some countries are LEDCs is because of Natural Disasters. Now since they are natural there is no way of stopping them. Unfortunately natural disasters tend to occur most and worst in those countries that are LEDCs. Natural disasters affect the countries development because since so many things are destroyed they have to be rebuilt which means instead of a country developing it is finding it difficult to develop to the status that it was previously meaning that the country is getting worse instead of remaining the same or developing. An example of a Natural Disaster is in Bangladesh where floods are very common. These floods mean that people can’t live in a secure atmosphere. These floods mean damage to crops, houses and loss of lives. Again like war the country has to be rebuilt meaning that it isn’t developing it is trying to get back to a level it was at previously.
In MEDCs people plan how many children they are going to have this is known as ‘family planning’ They take into account how much it will cost and whether each child will be able to be looked after well enough. There is a great advantage in family planning simply because there is a controlled population growth which is one of the factors that
determine whether a country is 1st, 2nd or 3rd world. LEDCs have a huge uncontrolled population growth meaning that families can’t even look after any of their children
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properly because they have too many coupled with the fact that health services are poor. Family planning is very important because it allows the country to know how many people to each doctor.
Some countries are LEDCs whereas others are MEDCs simply because of debts they have borrowed or other richer countries have lent to them. This is great in the short term
but in the long term this debt is increasing because of the interest that is being charged and therefore the LEDC which is trying to improve itself can’t because this money that has been borrowed has to be paid with interest meaning that the longer the LEDC doesn’t pay the debt it will increase making it ever harder for the country to pay of. An example where a country has huge debts to pay off is in Pakistan. Pakistan has borrowed around a billion dollars from MEDCs and it is said it will take Pakistan a very long period of time to repay these debts they owe.
Another thing I have mentioned briefly is the exploitation of poorer countries by richer countries by charging interest on loans that have been lent out to poorer countries. This loan is very difficult to pay because of the interest that has been charged this hinders the development of the country.
Cheap Labor – this is again another reason why some countries are LEDCs whilst others are MEDCs. In an LEDC for example things such as designer trainers, footballs e. t. c that are sold for ridiculous prices in MEDCs but those people who make the footballs and trainers aren’t aware of this and the bosses of these huge companies don’t take this fact into consideration because of their greed. The bosses of huge companies for example should pay the people who do these jobs at least a wage that is sufficient to fulfill the basic needs of a person. An example of cheap labor is in India where young children are paid very little for hard work in sweltering conditions that isn’t enough it is too little.
In reality what LEDCs actually need is stability and not handouts or aid whenever a problem occurs because if the country is in a stable situation it will know how to prevent these problems instead of allowing them to occur then doing something about it. For example if a country is struck with an earthquake and then other countries give aid and handouts this is all very well but the earthquake will still occur and there is no way of preventing this but what can be done is to reduce the damage caused in the first place this can be done by ensuring that all buildings are built in such a way that they are able to take the shock of an earthquake. If the country had the knowledge and capabilities of reducing the damage this is the best way of reducing the damage coupled with aid as well but then the aid needed will be less because there will be less damage caused. Also it is due to Natural Disasters that LEDCs need to borrow alot of money and these debts increase due to interest meaning that as time passes it only makes it harder and harder for countries to repay their debts.
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Look at Chile for example, it borrowed 3.9 billion dollars this was in the early 70’s by 1982 she paid 12.8 dollars in interest alone yet money was still owed. Therefore things such as natural disasters and debts are related to each other. I will now explain how, If there is a natural disaster the country that has been affected will have to borrow a huge debt.
Effect of Poverty
There are many things
effect poverty such as:
*Crime - Crime will increase because of poverty. This is because people need the bare essentials or the basic requirements and people will either steal from others to live or die unfortunately it is as simple as that. Poverty causes people to turn to crime out of desperation and not greed.
*Illness – Illness is another effect of poverty because poverty means ill hygiene. People will die because of illness because of the lack of sanitation.
Also things like food poisoning will also cause illness.
*Alcoholism – The problem of alcoholism has an effect on poverty in the sense that when people are depressed and feel hopeless they tend to turn to something that makes you forget about your problems but once you return to a sober state you will realize all those problems still exist.
Death/ Bad health – Another effect of poverty is death/bad health. People will die which can be linked with both alcoholism and crime. Since the lack of hygiene means people will end up dying after some sort of an illness. Bad health is another thing that affects poverty. Bad health means
* No Education – Education effects poverty in the sense that since no one can afford an education they are left illiterate which means that they will not be able to improve their situation and will be left in a state of poverty. For example, if the majority of the populations of a country arenot educated then how exactly will they improve the environment and the atmosphere? This leads to them being left in a state of either bad health or they will end up dying. This is the really unfortunate thing about this to get out of poverty education is needed but since Poverty leads to poverty i.e. if the parents are impoverished the chances their children are quite high.
Poverty leads to poverty – Another unfortunate thing is that if your parents are impoverished you to will be.
Poverty is caused by the following:
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Education – A lack of education causes a person or a whole community to remain in a state of poverty. Poverty is caused by low education of a country as a whole.
Wealth – Lack of wealth causes a person or a whole community to remain in a state of poverty.
Discrimination – If you are discriminated against because of your colour, religion or race this can be a factor causing you to remain in a state of poverty. For example if you are not employed or allowed to go to a certain school because you are Asian this will cause all Asians to remain in a state of poverty.
Health and old age – People who are old will remain in poverty because they are old and can’t really change their situation a great deal. This means that they will remain in a state of poverty. Poor health also causes poverty because if you are not in good health you won’t be able to work and earn money so you will also remain in a state of poverty.
If there is a high population for example this also causes poverty because a population leads to unemployment because there are more people than there are jobs.
We can deal with this problem of poverty however in the following 6 main ways:
1) By providing basic needs for the poor to get them out of this state of poverty such as clean water. Clean water is something that we all need and is what is known as a ‘basic need’. Providing the poor with clean water will ensure that they do not end up with some illness which would be disastrous.
2) Education – To provide the poor with an education will also ensure that they understand how people pick up an illness and also how to avoid illnesses which is vital to prevent things such as bad health and a death caused by poor education.