I’m from a country considered third-world and a common vacation spot for foreigners. One of our islands have a lot of foreigners even living there long-term. I see a lot of posts online complaining on behalf of the locals living there and saying this is such a bad thing.
Currently, I fail to see how this is bad but I’m scared to asks on other social media platforms and be seen as having colonial mentality or something.
In: Economics
It is controversial. When there is disparity in wealth, things that may appear good also have some bad effects.
Economic development creates winners and losers. Even if everyone benefits, some benefit more than others. This leads to economic changes that are (or at least appear) less “fair”. This is made much worse when development happens quickly as in gentrification. People who are older, less educated or less lucky often cannot benefit as much from development and they can, in extreme situations, get “pushed out” of their neighborhood and society. Governments have to balance the desire for economic development and the situation of those citizens who don’t benefit as much – this is difficult to manage well.
Of course, in modern times, it is easy to highlight “injustices” or make a situation out to be worse than reality. But there is an underlying truth to some situations and it would be unfair to dismiss these accusations as groundless. The issues of gentrification exist but many don’t account for the benefits (better livelihoods, living conditions, lower crime, better health etc) and simply highlight the downsides.
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