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The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence

Gary A. Haugen,

Victor Boutros

Start date: December 1, 2015

Finish date: December 31, 2015

Discussion: Economy & Politics

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Jun 18, 2018 Nazrul Buang rated it it was amazing

Just finished reading 'The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence' (2014) by Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros. I decided to pick up a copy after stumbling upon the author's TED talk on the internet, and thought that it would be interesting to read and learn a certain aspect of poverty that is seldomly discussed: violence against the poor.

Author Gary Haugen explains how everday violence is the main cause of poverty in developing countries, and how it continues to happ Just finished reading 'The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence' (2014) by Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros. I decided to pick up a copy after stumbling upon the author's TED talk on the internet, and thought that it would be interesting to read and learn a certain aspect of poverty that is seldomly discussed: violence against the poor.

Author Gary Haugen explains how everday violence is the main cause of poverty in developing countries, and how it continues to happen because of nonexistent law enforcement and broken justice systems. He illustrates how people misunderstands poverty, and simply conjure the usual images of lack of access to water, diseases, sanitation, etc. without understanding that these are simply symptoms to an even deeper yet more unknown root cause.

The author interviewed selected victims, most of which are girls and women, to vividly show the heinous acts of sexual violence done upon them with perpetrators going unpunished at all, showcasing how injustice festers in these developing countries (moreover, some accounts can be graphic in detail and even difficult to fathom because of the sheer depravity of the violence).

Haugen also comprehensively analyzes how complex the solution must be to fully address and solve the predicament, highlighting how the problem of violence is systemic and grossly pervasive. He sheds further light on just how flawed the justice systems are for countries in Africa, Southeast and South Asia, ranging from sheer ignorance of the police officers to the overwhelming workload of the prosecutors and a lot more other factors.

Lastly, he even offers history lessons on how the problem first came to be, attributing to colonialism, privatization and self-interests; and explains how current justice system models have failed, and meaningful efforts have not been made to address the urgent issues at hand. The history lessons provide an interesting view on understanding the current problem, before offering construction and effective solutions to solve it, with the help of case studies.

Haugen's book is a riveting and eye-opening contrarian read that changes how most people in the developed world perceives poverty in other countries, challenging prevailing notions of it and exploring just how complex the problem is. It opens up readers' eyes about how statistics can be misleading i.e. while poverty has proportionately decreased, the absolute number of people living below the poverty line has increased over the years.

This book is a must-read for all readers interested in public policy, law enforcement and solving poverty issues in developing countries. Some parts of the book are a little redundant, especially when the author keeps reiterating how violence is the root cause and the solution is law enforcement. Nevertheless, he's making a clear message to the readers just to illustrate the pressing issue at hand, including the need to change the conversation on poverty and ways to effective solve it. Haugen is spearheading a noble cause of fighting for justice and the fundamental rights of the poor, and I sincerely hope that his endeavors will eventually render the countries in need and the world a better place. Much respect to you, Haugen. ...more

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