When laptops aren't the answer

The U.N. said in a report Thursday that Sudan is denying it full access to tens of thousands of civilians near an area between north and south Sudan…

            The above text is the first line from a recent Associated Press article focusing on the rising levels of ethnic cleansing in Sudan.  The article is not referring to the Sudanese government denying tens of thousands of its civilians access to the internet.  The article is not referring to the Sudanese government denying tens of thousands of its civilians access to cell phones.  The article is referring to the fact that the Sudanese government is denying its citizens access to United Nations efforts to provide food and protection to the tens of thousands of Nubas who are the current target of ethnic cleansing in the African country.  Now I make this point because I do not see how the international community (like the World Bank) will be able to get laptops to the peoples of countries like the Sudan, when the international community (UN) is currently unable to get basic food and shelter for many Sudanese people.  Going beyond the Sudan, I do not see how the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program can work in the plethora of countries around the world which frequent “Most Corrupt Government” lists.  I agree with the message of the readings and Mike Trucano’s lecture when it says that a laptop to a child can be the gateway to educational enrichment and thus socio-economic advancement (in a way replacing the traditional role of the book in educational settings), but I am weary that funding large scale OLPC programs or cell phone distribution programs in countries with corrupt and violent governments will bring about few positive results, and potentially many negative results.  The powerful but disorganized Sudanese government-backed force that is currently killing thousands of Nubas would probably become an even more efficient killing force if it was able to use hundreds of new laptops that they confiscated from Sudanese civilians who were part of the OLPC program.  Attacks on Nuba villages might be better coordinated, and the Sudanese government could better use the internet to spread negative propaganda against certain ethnic groups (like the Nuba).  As long as the current Sudanese government is still in power, the Nuba, like the Sudanese ethnic groups of the Darfur region some years ago, will be violently targeted.  And the current Sudanese government will continue to stay in power unless the common citizens of Sudan rise up to overthrow or exile the current government officials.  Computers, cell phones, and the educational and organizational benefits that come with these technologies will be needed by the common peoples of Sudan in order to run out the current government.  Yet if the current government is not allowing its people access to food, then it will surely not allow the people access to the technologies needed to coordinate, educate, and eventually kick out the corrupt leaders who are leading ethnic cleansings.   

                Initiatives like OLPC can do wonders in a relatively uncorrupt nation like Uruguay, which has a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 6.7 according to Transparency International  (The higher the score, the less corrupt the nation.  United States has a score of 7.5).  A laptop in the hands of a student gives the student instant access to a million book’s worth of information.  I just spent the past 2 minutes surfing the internet, and in that time I learned about various things such as sustainable farming and how best to prepare for a job interview.  With the power of the internet (and programs such as Java, Excel, PowerPoint, iMovie, etc.) the Uruguayan lower-class will have access to learn the skills needed to advance their positions in society. 

                But in place like the Sudan, which has a very low CPI of 1.5, the lower class will not have access to the laptops needed to advance in society.  Thus in my opinion, the laptop money that cannot be spent in places like the Sudan, should be used as funding for military and police actions by the international community in the corrupt and violent nations like the Sudan.  Now I am not usually one for military interventions (not a big fan of Iraq and Afghanistan operations by the U.S.), but unless the current governments in some of these nations are removed, the food and technologies that would improve the lives of millions, will never reach those who need it most.   The Sudanese people themselves might have to buy bullets in order to rebel against the current government, before they can spend whatever money they have on technologies such as laptops.  While giving every child in Uruguay a laptop has been a noble and realistic goal, giving every child in the Sudan a laptop would be an unrealistic and irresponsible dream.  International organizations might want to spend on military operations in places like the Sudan before they spend on technology.