Man, sounds like a tough situation, I’m so sorry you are going through this.
In addition to all the other stuff in this thread, it might be valuable to read some history in order to try & acquire perspective. I don’t know very much history myself, but perhaps a good analogy would be the recent Arab Spring protests. My vague understanding is that a lot of the Arab Spring countries ended up worse off than they were to start with, despite the good intentions of the people protesting. “Color revolutions” in the former Soviet Union could be another analogy—here is an article I found on Google. Perhaps you could gather examples of countries which did/did not succeed in peacefully reforming their government, and try to understand which separates the successful countries from the unsuccessful ones. (Or see if some academic has already attempted this.)
This is a really fascinating video which attempts to show that the bad behavior of autocratic governments is simply a matter of all the individuals involved following their incentives. Maybe the book that inspired the video has some solutions to the problem? This post might have ideas? Chapter 14 of this book? Paying higher salaries is another interesting idea for tackling corruption. If getting books is hard, you might try this free online course created by some prominent economists. The sections on corruption & democracy could be relevant, and maybe the “people” section?
I’ll definitely look into all that you’ve suggested. You’re absolutely right in trying to acquire perspective about these events in order to understand better how to react if these things happen again in the future, which it very well might. I value your input and hope to give you some feedback on it one day. I’d like to message you and maybe have a chat about the contents of the material you’ve advised.
You’re welcome to message me, but I don’t feel like I have much to offer beyond what I wrote in my comment. Maybe try emailing some researchers in this field asking for advice?
Man, sounds like a tough situation, I’m so sorry you are going through this.
In addition to all the other stuff in this thread, it might be valuable to read some history in order to try & acquire perspective. I don’t know very much history myself, but perhaps a good analogy would be the recent Arab Spring protests. My vague understanding is that a lot of the Arab Spring countries ended up worse off than they were to start with, despite the good intentions of the people protesting. “Color revolutions” in the former Soviet Union could be another analogy—here is an article I found on Google. Perhaps you could gather examples of countries which did/did not succeed in peacefully reforming their government, and try to understand which separates the successful countries from the unsuccessful ones. (Or see if some academic has already attempted this.)
This is a really fascinating video which attempts to show that the bad behavior of autocratic governments is simply a matter of all the individuals involved following their incentives. Maybe the book that inspired the video has some solutions to the problem? This post might have ideas? Chapter 14 of this book? Paying higher salaries is another interesting idea for tackling corruption. If getting books is hard, you might try this free online course created by some prominent economists. The sections on corruption & democracy could be relevant, and maybe the “people” section?
Hi John,
I’ll definitely look into all that you’ve suggested. You’re absolutely right in trying to acquire perspective about these events in order to understand better how to react if these things happen again in the future, which it very well might. I value your input and hope to give you some feedback on it one day. I’d like to message you and maybe have a chat about the contents of the material you’ve advised.
You’re welcome to message me, but I don’t feel like I have much to offer beyond what I wrote in my comment. Maybe try emailing some researchers in this field asking for advice?