Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

qz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 148 posts

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#61

Post by tristor »

vorpalhex wrote: post #33
blackearl wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is exploiting them. They're not doing it out of kindness, or for some moral self-aggrandizing.

Yet even this exploitative relationship may prove much more helpful than the grain and occasional squad of observers the US or UN sends. It's a funny sort of problem isn't it - perhaps the only way to get genuine investment in these areas is an almost parasitic relationship. More interesting would be if this forces the US or other western countries to more aggressively step up to the plate...

The West will never step aggressively to the plate. We aren’t allowed to by our own domestic politics. One of the major reasons China can become so directly and aggressively involved is they aren’t white. They don’t have a history of African colonialism, Apartheid, or slavery in Africa. They’ve done all these (or similar) and worse, but not in Africa and not in a way which found domestic disapproval.

If the West ever entered Africa the way China has the politicians leading it would destroyed at home. It’s more domestic politics and history than geopolitics.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#62

Post by jaco8 »

HorizonXP wrote: post #3
jaco8 wrote: post #2

Reading this headline I remember my grandmother, who donated 10 bucks every month for years to this famine ravaged country via some church charity. She died poor living on minimum pension. Nobody from Ethiopia ever thanked her.

Are you trying to say that this is some kind of waste of money? This is literally a weather satellite to help them plan for future events, which should have a direct impact on agriculture. In my mind, a country that can go from famine ravaged to space faring within a single generation should be tremendously lauded. And the fact that it's trying to do something to help prevent another famine is commendable too. (I rea…

While I am being downvoted here happily , unfortunately I know it was a waste of money. On my extensive travels I met charitiy workers who were proud to discuss which of them agencies had the latest Toyota Landcruser , Range Rover , the best air condition in their flown-in prefabricated buildings etc. etc.,last time in Sri Lanka . While I agree with you that achievements should be lauded but the billions of donations by people who could least afford it need to be mentioned too. Several members of my extended family gave to charities mostly to African countries in the 70 and 80ties , the children of the recipients are now drowning in the Mediterranean Sea or visiting Europe for handouts.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#63

Post by oefrha »

yorwba wrote: post #60
oefrha wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how your links support your argument. Literacy rate data is from 1994 onwards, steadily up except one hiccup (by the way I can’t imagine how literacy rate could drop 6% in a year; short of mass extinction of a literate group it must be a change of methodology); life expectancy growth accelerated from ~2000 and is slowing down a bit again; hunger data is from 2000 onwards, same for HDI which you already remov…

> Literacy rate data is from 1994 onwards, steadily up Supporting the argument, since progress keeps following the trend. > life expectancy growth accelerated from ~2000 and is slowing down a bit again Slight waviness superimposed on the overall trend. > how is GDP per capita, an important metric, “a bit of a exception” GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics. > annual GDP growth rate do…

> GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics

Two other less important and less immediate metrics. The “exception” easily outweigh them both.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#64

Post by jtbayly »

trianglem wrote: post #57
ajmurmann wrote: post #16

There is a dead comment by someone whose grandma kept donating to charity for Ethiopia. The grandma died poor save the poster is upset that nobody from Ethiopia ever thanked her and now they are prospering. I don't like that comment, but it is actually quite interesting, especially if taken together with another comment on a parallel discussion about the huge growth in Africa and the very visible Chinese influence. I…

China’s model seems to be build infrastructure and the rest of society will come along as opposed to providing aid for the least fortunate.

Yes, but China benefits in several ways that temper this positive take.

1. by owning the (often insane) debt from the programs

2. by getting a lot of Chinese jobs in the country

3. by gaining influence over the country (at the expense of Western influence, if you see this as a competition.

Another problem here, although it’s not a benefit to China, is that the quality of infrastructure built by China is often terrible, making the cost and debt even more problematic.

Now, having said all that, the US isn’t necessarily doing much better. And the poor quality Chinese roads (just as an example) are still infinitely better than the competing local-built roads.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#65

Post by trianglem »

Aaron_Putnam wrote: post #30
wiremine wrote: post #6

Ethiopia's GDP growth has been on a tear since 2000. [1] If you visit the capital, you can't miss the Chinese influence. Last time I was there, a huge Chinese bank building was going up kiddy corner to the Airport in Addis. BTW, if you haven't visited Ethiopia, put it on your list. It's an amazingly beautiful country. [1] https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...

GDP per capita is still at $767, which is representative of the majority of the population earning a subsistence living. Ethiopia has a population of 105 million, yet it has the gross scientific output of Latvia, a country of only 1.92 million: https://www.natureindex.com/country-outputs/generate/All/glo... What is growing is CO2 emissions, at 14.9 million tonnes. By contrast, Latvia emits only 8 million tonnes. On a…

A country with 50 times the population emits only twice as much CO2? This seems extremely good.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#66

Post by BitwiseFool »

dole wrote: post #35

Little surprised to see all the ice flaking off the rocket at launch, isn't this a danger to the rest of the booster, lower fins?

No, it's only really a problem for payloads strapped to the side of the booster, like the space shuttle.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#67

Post by trianglem »

jtbayly wrote: post #64
trianglem wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China’s model seems to be build infrastructure and the rest of society will come along as opposed to providing aid for the least fortunate.

Yes, but China benefits in several ways that temper this positive take. 1. by owning the (often insane) debt from the programs 2. by getting a lot of Chinese jobs in the country 3. by gaining influence over the country (at the expense of Western influence, if you see this as a competition. Another problem here, although it’s not a benefit to China, is that the quality of infrastructure built by China is often terribl…

Yes, China benefits tremendously. However the African countries reap some rewards too. It’s hard to take away infrastructure once it’s built short of starting a war. If the African countries can figure out how to maintain and add to all the new infrastructure, they may have the upper hand in the very long term.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#68

Post by thrower123 »

ajmurmann wrote: post #16

There is a dead comment by someone whose grandma kept donating to charity for Ethiopia. The grandma died poor save the poster is upset that nobody from Ethiopia ever thanked her and now they are prospering. I don't like that comment, but it is actually quite interesting, especially if taken together with another comment on a parallel discussion about the huge growth in Africa and the very visible Chinese influence. I…

China is doing what Europe did in the 19th century. Anti-colonial independence movements and wholesale nationalization of existing infrastructure put a hell of a clamp on that sort of investment after the second world war. Why would you put up money to build ports or railroads or factories when political instability could mean that next year a tinpot dictator might decide that he was taking it at bayonet-point and seizing all your in-country assets? Especially when your government had demonstrated time and again that they had no interest in retaliating for that kind of trespass.

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#69

Post by yorwba »

oefrha wrote: post #63
yorwba wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Literacy rate data is from 1994 onwards, steadily up Supporting the argument, since progress keeps following the trend. > life expectancy growth accelerated from ~2000 and is slowing down a bit again Slight waviness superimposed on the overall trend. > how is GDP per capita, an important metric, “a bit of a exception” GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics. > annual GDP growth rate do…

> GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics Two other less important and less immediate metrics. The “exception” easily outweigh them both.

I spent some time browsing the World Bank's data portal and found another metric that shows similar exceptional growth: number of pupils in primary education https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRL?locations=E...

That one takes off in 1993, about a decade before GDP exploded. Maybe the secret to Ethiopia's growth is just that the population became educated enough to do something useful with the money invested by foreign entities?

Re: Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space

#70

Post by rumanator »

vorpalhex wrote: post #33
blackearl wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is exploiting them. They're not doing it out of kindness, or for some moral self-aggrandizing.

Yet even this exploitative relationship may prove much more helpful than the grain and occasional squad of observers the US or UN sends. It's a funny sort of problem isn't it - perhaps the only way to get genuine investment in these areas is an almost parasitic relationship. More interesting would be if this forces the US or other western countries to more aggressively step up to the plate...

> Yet even this exploitative relationship may prove much more helpful than the grain and occasional squad of observers the US or UN sends.

Any economic program set forth by the West and any decisive intervention to stabilize a country is promptly accused of being neocolonialism.

I recall a few years ago there was a military coup in Guinea Bissau and the West stepped in to stabilize the country by getting the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries (Portuguese acronym CPLP) involved and send ground troops. Even so, it was decided that the ground troops needed to be from Angola and leave Portugal to handle logistics because having Portuguese troops on the ground would help the narrative that the former colonizer was controlling the fallen democratic government as a sockpuppet.

Post reply on HN