Economics vs. Human Rights

I’ve learned pretty much one thing from my three courses in economics and countless classes in world history, politics, and culture: economics trumps human rights.

I thought about this while I was listening to the music of Fela Kuti in my music of Africa and the Middle East class. Fela was essentially a revolutionary and a musician in Nigeria. I believe that in his lifetime he had about 6 million wives, promoted anarchy, and founded his own nation within Nigeria.

It goes without saying that the government hated him. The police abused him all his life. He was arrested numerous times. But he got away with a lot of things because he was famous.

He was famous for being a good musician. But someone had to record and distribute his music. My bet is that some of those same people who did the recording and the distributing had a lot of interest in the Nigerian government, or at least in maintaining the power structure that lets them be record executives.

But they recorded his music anyway. They made him famous and more powerful as a political figure. Why? Because they could make money. Thus, economics helps in the fight against human rights abuse. “They” (whoever they are) would rather make the money from his music than preserve their power structure.
Of course, this is a double-edged sword. The much more obvious and depressing examples are those of sweat-shops, wal-marts, and monopolies. All over the world, developing economies have the powers to crush the individual worker and their human rights.

Thing is I’m really an optomist at heart, and I think that if anything the developmental path of the US is proof enough that there’s an upward push when you mix two parts bald-faced capitalism with one part semi-corrupted democracy.

Go mixed drinks.