Dear Alex,

Am sorry but you have not said anything new, this is not about ICT but just the human nature. In the words of Dr. Ndemo, please can you allow me to differ with you....

Carlos like any other human whether rich by ICT or Oil or Diamonds etc can either behave well towards society or be evil. Google says "do no evil".

George Soros, one of my long standing heroes and mentors of all time, who went up (hedged) against the Queens pound and made a fortune overnight still behaves well towards society. He has being funding and a great thinker of the Open Society concept which seeks to give all humans a say and a part of our societal development - that is distribution of resources and the establishment of a high platform for civil engagement which takes cognisance of the fact that every human being is unique and has a unique contribution to the common good so MUST be given a CHANCE to do so. 

If you check the records carefully, there is no revolution of time that gives even the poor a chance at wealth than the ICT revolution. In the Agricultural age, you needed lots of money to buy land and farm inputs etc to participate in that ages wealth arena. In the industrial revolution, you know what it took but in the ICT age, my good old friend, started the biggest software company in Africa (okay, i also stand to be corrected.....:-) with an old computer that his father had discarded in their storeroom and bootstraped to become a giant. You cant start a farm or industry that way. Well, you also know the famous Bill Gates story. 

Alex, i like challenging the status quo and rethinking things and arguments but in the scheme of things those of us who belong to this revolution must settle and shipout this steroe type argument that beats on the gains and opportunities provided by ICTs to the developing world. Bill Gates, made that same argument on CNN some five years ago that Africa needs food, clean water etc and not computers but today he has not only changed his stand but he is busy locking African governments into the Micorsoft platform. 

Can you ever imagine that the richest man in the world could come from a developing country if it is not for ICT and how on earth can Africa be leading the entire world on something if it was not for the mobile revolution? To cut a long story short, it is not about ICTs but human nature and thats why i now subscribe to school of thought that we need to go back to the same basics of human discipline, honesty, faithfullness, hardwork, commitment etc

Eric here



On 26 Nov 2007, at 15:45, Alex Gakuru wrote:

Taking a bird's view, floating a conspiracy theory,  and inviting your
comments...

The Financial Post 9 -15 April 2007 issue, contains an article titled
"Billion Dollar Baby" Carlos Slim Helú's fortune is up almost $20
billion a year, built amid poverty and resentment in Mexico. Now he is
gaining on Warren Buffett. (attached)

This is old news now for Carlos is now the world's richest man. Slim
has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry [and
media] in Mexico and much of Latin America as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim_Hel%C3%BA

There are/can be two camps here, one paying homage to new richest men
in our worlds or those feeling the havoc caused by mobicoms dominance
by worsening poverty levels in developing nations. This is why I say,
andstand to be corrected, "In the current situation ICTs cause more
poverty than prosperity."
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=363&Itemid=5810.

With this wealth and power at their disposal, I fear that it could be
just a matter of time before they start deciding on DNs governments. A
hypothetical Fabian bored with too much wealth, succeeded at his
ultimate game to an entire society: -

"After a man has far more money than he can possibly spend for
pleasure, what is left to excite him? For those with a ruling class
mentality, the answer is power - raw power over other human beings.
The idealists were used in the media and in Government, but the real
controllers that Fabian sought were those of the ruling class
mentality." http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html

Another example, I have been following on how spying devices were
found inside key components of the Vodafone network in Greece, which
was being used to monitor conversations of 103 people, including the
Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis and his wife. Today I read
this article http://www.cellular-news.com/story/27648.php

An earlier story "Death muddies Greek spy probe" can be found here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4838552.stm

3 cents...

[mind mentioning where you got this compilation if you must to use it
somewhere else? ("creative commons":) Thanks]
<BillionDollarBaby.gif>
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

This message was sent to: eric@afrispa.org
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eric%40afrispa.org

Eric M.K Osiakwan
Executive Secretary
AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031
Fax: + 233.21.258811
Cell: + 233.244.386792
Handle: eosiakwan
Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
Slang: "Tomorrow Now"