The Global South lives in a perpetual state of being promised development. Western nations have laid out paths that resemble pyramid schemes, claiming that if we follow a number of simple steps, we too can achieve our own developed nation! Yet, there is a cyclical nature to our development or lack thereof. We go through peaks and troughs, booms and recessions, never achieving the riches and freedom Western states enjoy. With more than 70 years into the official beginning of development projects, it is clear we have been set up to be in a perpetual cycle of underdevelopment.

“And We Sold the Rain” by Carmen Naranjo clearly depicts this condition the Global South is confined in. The country in her piece, which we assume is Costa Rica, does not enjoy economic, social, or political freedoms. To the extent which when they find temporary wealth in selling the rain, the president believes they “will regain our [their] independence” (154). Yet, this is not true. Despite colonialism being technically over, neo-imperialism is thriving. Through it, ideas of development and economic dependencies are instilled to serve Western interests while the Global South lives in a fragile state of uncertainty, where they have no idea whether the products they have built their economy around will continue to be marketable. The Global South is in a constant limbo, where they depend on outside economies to eat and access primary resources like water, as shown in pages 149-150. Despite Costa Rica being a resource-abundant nation, with the perfect climate for all types of crops, they can not even eat beans, and abundant precolonial food, because of their need for imports they can not afford due to bankruptcy. The development project forged dependency, as nations were encouraged to specialize in selling a resource, while Western nations returned it manufactured at double or triple the price. Through this extractive method, cycles of underdevelopment are enforced, leading the Global South to blindly fight for a seat at a table that was never built for their inclusion.