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Posted by Mark Vanderbeeken | 3 Jun 2008
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Comments (1)
Fast Company's excellent special report on China in Africa, written by investigative journalist Richard Behar (wikipedia), is a must read for responsible designers, as it explains how a resource hungry China is heavily pushing into the sub-Sahara, driven in part by a demand for final products from an equally hungry Western world. It's these final products that designers are often responsible for.
(The only criticism I have is the graphic accompanying the article as it refers to the wrong part of Africa).
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Comments
An article very much short on facts, and long on the "reporter's" ideological point view. I don't know that your description of the author is fair to other investigative reporters out there.
The author preys on the ignorance of readers' knowledge of both history and economics - which to be quite frank, I think both FastCompany's readership and content has suffered considerably since it was first published.
Citing Malthus as being "largely forgotten" is odd. Malthus is still a staple of econ 101 (he's why economics is known as the "dismal science") - given that he is considered to be one of the first economists and still cited by many environmentalists out there despite fundamental flaws in his arguments.
Much of China's consumption is actually for China - so your comments about consumption for the Western world is only true in part. Further, in context, let's also recognize that the world is on the cusp of many developments in energy that will likely be transformative - much like the material substitutes and technology that rendered Malthus's fears of mass starvation appear rather foolish.
Those who fear what Malthus has prophesied, may do well to read about Julian Simon's bet with Paul Erlich in the 1980s. Further, those who fear China's reach into Africa would also do well to read the article on China in this month's Foreign Policy which points out that China's approach to dealing with anyone who will give them resources is getting push back and further, could handicap them in the long run.
As someone who has worked both in Africa and China, compared to the facts on the ground, the author appears more hysterical than reasoned - which to be frank, may be what FastCompany is now going for as it continues to bleed readership.
Ok, so other than that - I really do enjoy your blog :) (honest!). I do think designers have a responsibility to create great products that are increasingly user friendly but also economical - and in so doing do a great service to both the environment and the world.