The Zimbabwean government is strapped for cash with a current bank balance of $217. Along with the majority of our country, who has more than this in my bank account. After reaching an inflation rate of 500 billion percent in 2008, the country abandoned its currency and began to use American dollars. Apparently, using twenty trillion dollars to buy a loaf of bread seemed a bit excessive so the country looked for an easier, lighter bank note. Debt from switching to the new currency has left the coffers dry. Paying the salaries of corrupt government officials and a president who refuses to give up control makes up approximately seventy-three percent of the government’s budget, and now close to nothing is left. This issue brings up one very different topic that I would like to discuss.
Firstly, the concept of money and the quantity of it is an issue that concerns many people. The first reaction to hearing Zimbabwe’s bank account statement generally warrants a collective shock response. What many people forget, however, is that the sum of money means nothing whatsoever—it is simply a denomination for counting it. Money is a human construct and the actual wealth it represents is what’s important. A pair of shoes costs one hundred dollars today but cost one dollar many years ago. The power of the dollar has changed. In the case of Zimbabwe, where the majority of people make one to two dollars a day, $217 is actually quite a lot for a single person. However, for the national government, this is pretty sad. Now that this has been understood the major question needs to be asked: What do we do about it?
What do we do, as Americans—as humans—to address those around us who are less fortunate? Are we morally obliged to help those in need? Moreover, being in America, the world’s supposed protector, do we use our money to help countries unable to function on their own? There are well-developed arguments for both sides; it is Darwinism against humanism, socialism versus capitalism and a free market approach next to controlled markets.
Economically, we have much to gain from helping the country with its debt. Providing large loans to the nation would hopefully secure trade and strong business ties to the country. Zimbabwe’s large platinum reserves and the Marange Diamond Fields are some of the largest in the world. By helping them, we could hopefully reap the benefits of potentially lower prices on these luxury products. However, our country has enough fiscal problems of its own. How often have you heard of the United States making out a loan or sending millions of dollars worth of aid to some other country in the recent past? Excuse me, but I was under the impression that we were verging on bankruptcy and hanging on the edge of a fiscal cliff. Do we simply borrow money from China just to funnel it to another part of the world? As nice as this is to other people, it doesn’t seem like the best idea to lend out money that doesn’t exist.
It is actually impossible to come to the correct answer in this situation. In the end it is a nominal judgment that is theoretical and pertains to morals. There is no definitively solid approach. Why should we give money to people whom we will most likely never see in our lives?
Furthermore, money given to an African country could end up in the hands of some extremist group, or line the pockets of a corrupt leader. On the other hand, we are all people. It seems prudent enough to pass on a favor to somebody; it may come back to you someday. It may be survival of the fittest, but if your parents never helped you then you would not be alive. There are two sides to this but what every person seems to forget is the multitude of shades of grey in between.
Opinions rooted only in facts remove the element of empathy that is crucial for decision-making. Aligning yourself with a group, idea or opinion makes you feel much better but also robs you of speaking your own mind. I bring this up because problem- solving, from choosing lunch to reducing Zimbabwe’s debt, is consistently partisan in teenaged and college-aged people. Fashion styles that seem ridiculous to me persist because they are followed by everyone and it ‘seems’ to fit the mold of the norm. Whatever happened to individual thought? An idea should not be followed because it is accepted; it should be followed because it is truly believed by its proponents.
Strangely enough, this all spawned from Zimbabwe’s money crisis. As tangential as my point is, it is a necessary leap in my eyes. Though Zimbabwe’s problems are distant from our lives in New London, we are still connected to and can help them. Keeping up to date with the problems of the world is just as important to some as following the problems of an individual’s life. Furthermore, the suggestions for improvements these problems are even more focused upon and debated over. These problems are everywhere: gun control, taxes, abortion and the fiscal cliff, just to name a few. So, what do we do with Zimbabwe? If you got this far then you know that I have no idea. •
