The poorest regions on the planet can often seem somewhat surreal to the suburban middle class.
While people are still fighting starvation and malnutrition, there are families complaining about a 5% rise in milk prices or minor increases in income tax.
So far, we've managed to essentially push all of that suffering and poverty to the side - international aid and charity events are almost insignificant when compared to the $500 Billion owed by the developing world to richer, developed countries.
My self-satisfaction of throwing coins into charity buckets became quickly diminished after understanding that the world's 100 richest men could default the debts of the entire 'third' world.
In the end, the people with the capacity to make a difference will choose not to, because in their eyes - there is no immediate benefit.
In this last year or so, we're starting to see the consequences of neglecting the people who need our help the most.
Instability is on the rise throughout North Africa, with many extremist factions building up a dangerous circle of influence in the region.
We've just seen the French intervene in the Mali crisis with the goal of eliminating the Islamists that seized control in many of the more important areas of Mali.
With poverty, comes weakness - and the weaker a nation, the easier it is for smaller, 'guerrilla' groups to take advantage of this debt-induced vulnerability.
Naturally, extremist groups taking power is problematic for the richer nations - who rely on these poorer states for food and natural resources.
Once the possibility of open (and exploitative..
) trade becoming hindered, we begin to see interventions as we've recently seen in Mali (and previously Iraq).
Currently, debt and aggressive interest rates have essentially forced the developing world to become under the complete control of the western world.
Instead of self-improvement, their goals have to be aligned with repaying stupidly large interest rates.
It's inevitable that one day somebody will come along and say "Hey, maybe we should just take control ourselves, and stop doing things just to suit a few rich guys in suits?".
That's exactly what we're seeing in the current social and political landscape; North Africa is one of the most unstable regions on the planet - and there are bound to be consequences of this instability.
Such consequences include terrorism, extremism and a very hateful rhetoric towards Western society.
Will we just wait wait while potentially harming changes undergo in these debt-ridden nations? No.
I can only predict that the extent of US-lead interventionism will increase, with more support from European countries (many of which who still have historical/cultural ties with these countries from colonial periods).
Intervention is also an admittance of responsibility, and we can only hope that actual investment is put into helping the developing world actually develop (instead of simply surviving), however that is a best-case scenario.
It's fully possible that the instability of the developing world will only trigger a more aggressive and hurtful iteration of imperialistic power being instructed on these weaker nations.