Is Latin America’s dependency on the United States a result of technology? It can be hard for people to comprehend the notion that technological advancements are not always beneficial but, unfortunately, countless scholars are proving that the development of underdeveloped countries, like Mexico, is due to the United States technological advancements.
Of course, no one can disregard the benefits technology has brought, especially, to the medical field. And the daily chores of the average American have definitely become much less strenuous, or not strenuous at all. However, the majority of the people in underdeveloped worlds, like Latin America, are currently working in worse conditions than if the United States hadn’t had an Industrial Revolution and ignited the movement towards technological advancement because “education, training, science, and technology are all very unevenly distributed through the world” (Arocena 18).
Although, advancements in the medical field have, of course, proven to help people in both developed and under-developed countries, the terrible work conditions in factories and the lack of means for an education are just hitting the surface of reasons why it doesn’t balance out in the end. The life of a factory worker in Mexico is, without a doubt, an undesired life and education is the most promising way to a satisfying life. Technology in Mexico, therefore, hurts the people more than helps them.
So what exactly is appropriate technology in the United States during the 21st century? If the United States has such an overwhelmingly wealth of knowledge within the technical field shouldn’t they be expected to use only technology that benefits the world? Organizations such as, National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) have the right intentions. Their goals entail using new technology to benefit less fortunate people, with culture and environment, always in mind. With that, this introduces the main problem society faces in the field of technology: greed.
The misuse of technology is due to greed. The wealthy business man who only cares about how to turn one dollar in to two dollars is disheartening. The people are forgotten. In Mexico, the people’s culture is not even considered. It is because of greed and so many American’s established independent way of thinking that explains why so many underdeveloped countries are currently stuck in a vicious cycle. For example, “genetic engineering is being used to increase poor people’s dependence on the corporate sector for seeds, agricultural inputs, and produce,reinforcing farmers’ dependence on chemical herbicides and fertilizers” (Arocena 24). When practices, such as this, become installed in to the society it becomes very hard to change and it prevents room for innovation and or small farmer success. Native born American’s do not understand or comprehend other countries more “family” way of thinking.
In my opinion, it is, hands down, the development of technology that led to the “development of the underdeveloped” countries, such as those in Latin America. Frank’s idea “reproduces Baran’s thesis that the extraction of surplus from the periphery by the center limits the for- mer’s ability to grow” (Vernango 555). Suggesting that there was a determined man or woman to end the circle of dependency how would he or she accomplish it? Theotônio dos Santos concluded in his dependency analysis that only “a revolution—would allow a break in the circle of dependency and permit true development in the periphery” (Vernango 555).
Works Cited
Technology, Finance, and Dependency: Latin American Radical Political Economy in Retrospect
Matias Vernengo
Review of Radical Political Economics, Fall 2006; vol. 38: pp. 551-568
Technology, Inequality, and Underdevelopment: The Case of Latin America
Rodrigo Arocena and Peter Senker
Science, Technology & Human Values, January 2003; vol. 28: pp. 15-33
