HW 2 pt. 6

This question refer to the documentary Bling; to help you I’ve crafted a (rough) transcript of the video here.

In this question you will apply an abstract concept to evidence from the Bling video and it’s precisely the ability to apply principles and content learned in one context to material in a different context that employers and grad schools are looking for in candidates.  In short, helping you refine this skill is the reason the assignment is structured as it is.

Make sure you understand the description of the “resource curse” below; a strong essay will require a strong grasp of this concept.

The Resource Curse and Poor Countries

Economists and political scientists often speak of what’s known as the “resource curse” or “paradox of plenty.” This idea refers to the paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to have less economic growth than countries without these natural resources (That’s a paradox because one might expect a country that’s wealthy in resources to do better economically than a country that’s poor in resources).

While this paradox happens for a number of reasons, there are two prime ones that interest us here. The first reason is government mismanagement–or political corruption–encouraged by the nature of easy money to be gained from such resources. The second is that natural resources can, and often do, not only provoke violent conflicts within societies, but also fuel those clashes.

One way to understand the first reason for the “resource curse,” (government mismanagement) is to compare societies with an abundance of natural resources to “ordinary” societies that are not resource-rich. In these “ordinary” societies, governments tax citizens, who demand efficient and responsive government in return. This bargain establishes a political bond between leaders and citizens and guarantees at least some services in the country–services essential for economic grown and diversification. In countries whose economies are dominated by natural resources, however, rulers don’t need to tax their citizens because they have a guaranteed source of income from natural resources. Rather than tax citizens for revenue, the government simply sells the resources (say, for example, oil) on the global market and pockets the profits. So the relationship between rulers and the ruled falls apart as leaders fail to provide essential government services–such as infrastructure–as part of their rule. (Look to HW1 for a definition of infrastructure).

Turning to and looking more closely at the second reason, in societies with an abundance of natural resources conflicts can occur over the control and exploitation of resources as well as the distribution of the money (“revenue”) earned from the sale of those resources. Moreover, access to resource revenues by combatants can prolong conflicts.

 

In this essay, demonstrate how evidence from the documentary can be interpreted to demonstrate that Sierra Leone has long suffered poverty as a consequence of the “resource curse” because of the country’s abundant diamond resources.

Your response absolutely needs to address BOTH of the reasons for the “resource curse” discussed above (A. government corruption and B. the fueling of conflict). Reviewing your answers to questions 8 – 14 from HW 1 will help you (hint: pay attention to infrastructure). Be specific in your argument by providing explicit textual evidence from the documentary.

WRITING REQUIREMENTS AND TIPS

1.Length: 450 – 650 words (about 1.75 – 2.25 pages of 12-point, double-spaced font)

2. You will want to organize around your essay around a concise thesis statement that appears near the beginning of your paper.

3. Be sure to underline your thesis statement (5 points off if you do not).

4. Be sure to have at least 5 direct quotations from Bling (you have the transcript)

5. When using direct quotations from Bling, be sure to use method 3 or 4 for introducing quotations (-5% if you don’t) and also be sure to reduce your quotations to ten for fewer words. See here on how to reduce quotations.

6.  When making your arguments, be sure to ground those arguments in specific evidence from the video.

7.   Be sure in those paragraphs where you make points from evidence to organize those paragraph in the familiar cl/ev/wa format and that you put a (CL) in front of your paragraph’s claim, an (EV) before the evidence, and a (WA) in front of the warrant.  (Keep in mind (A) not all paragraphs should be in cl/ev/wa format–just those that make a point from evidence. Also keep in mind (B) that the cl/ev/wa format is for organizing individual paragraphs rather than for organizing whole papers. A strong paper will likely have a series of cl/ev/wa paragraphs as well as a number of paragraphs that are not in that format.)

END OF ASSIGNMENT