The Resurgence Of Mid-Latitude Attitudes

14 Pages 3530 Words

“The Resurgence of Mid-Latitude Attitudes”
A Critical Look at Neo-Liberalism and
The Opposition to Contemporary Colonialism in Latin America

Executive Summary:
During the colonial period of Latin America there was a reliance on the economic prosperity of the settlements in the Caribbean and South America by countries of Europe. These areas relied upon exportation of the vast resources found and cultivated. Prior to the 17th century, each country had its own colonies and benefited from its holdings. An economist named Adam Smith argued for the idea of liberalism. This ideology would break down trade barriers between the countries and allow free trade among the colonies. Periods of economic prosperity would follow for the European nations until independence swept through Latin America leaving poor exploited third world countries. Exportation of the valuable resources found there would continue, maintaining dependency on the global market. Since then there have been many improvements in economic diversification and industrialization. Brazil and Mexico have nearly broken away from their dependency on export wealth, but the majority of the countries are still vastly dependent on primary product export income. These countries are very susceptible to global economic externalities, thus leaving them limited power in the control of export technicalities. Additionally, primary focus on exports leaves local ecosystems and environments without sustainability.
These problems are the result of the capitalistic interim logic of relative benefit. A new proposal of integrating the Latin American countries into the “global village” has been at the forefront of Latin American Development. This has been defined as neo-liberalism. This type of ideology is the opponent of sustainable development. The negative environmental impacts are not being intervened because of wealth interests. Also, global economy impedes state governments fro...