Malaria is a horrible disease - well worth doing something about. Plus, mosquitos are annoying:-P.
So when people gave Africans nets to put on the windows to their homes/bedrooms, the idea was that it would HELP.
Instead… Africans decided that they made pretty good nets for catching fish. However, the same extremely tiny holes that kept mosquitoes out of homes while they sleep also kept tiny little fish eggs in - very much unlike a traditional fishing net that would only catch the large fish while letting the eggs slip through back into the water where they could grow.
Entire lakes were devastated. The people, who did not know the consequences of merely trying to eat food to survive, destroyed the ability of future generations to likewise eat and survive.
It is hubris to think that we know what is best for some other culture that we have not met nor know much of anything about.
Edit: this is not to say that nothing should ever be done to help, only that care should be taken in doing so. e.g. selling guns to someone may sound like a good idea “for their protection”, but is it really? Whether I think so or not, Starfleet has decided to abide by that principle, and I think it is admirable. I presume that they know more about cultural development than I do, especially of pre- vs. post-warp societies:-).
Malaria is a horrible disease - well worth doing something about. Plus, mosquitos are annoying:-P.
So when people gave Africans nets to put on the windows to their homes/bedrooms, the idea was that it would HELP.
Instead… Africans decided that they made pretty good nets for catching fish. However, the same extremely tiny holes that kept mosquitoes out of homes while they sleep also kept tiny little fish eggs in - very much unlike a traditional fishing net that would only catch the large fish while letting the eggs slip through back into the water where they could grow.
Entire lakes were devastated. The people, who did not know the consequences of merely trying to eat food to survive, destroyed the ability of future generations to likewise eat and survive.
It is hubris to think that we know what is best for some other culture that we have not met nor know much of anything about.
Edit: this is not to say that nothing should ever be done to help, only that care should be taken in doing so. e.g. selling guns to someone may sound like a good idea “for their protection”, but is it really? Whether I think so or not, Starfleet has decided to abide by that principle, and I think it is admirable. I presume that they know more about cultural development than I do, especially of pre- vs. post-warp societies:-).