14 Leaders The Economist June 11th 2022
the shadows or be deported en masse to a failing state.
It is perhaps not surprising that friction arises between im
migrants and poor South Africans. Tensions are common in ma
ny countries, especially during hard times. And life in the rain
bow nation is certainly hard. The official unemployment rate is
35%. Prices of food and fuel are rising. The politicians in charge
of many towns have proved better at looting than supplying
public services. Schools have only marginally improved since
the end of apartheid—a system that deliberately deprived black
people of education. However, the blame for these modern ills
lies squarely with the ruling party, not with immigrants.
So instead of scapegoating people who cannot vote, the gov
ernment should try to govern better: by curbing corruption, im
proving public services and making South Africa an easier place
to do business. More specifically, to restore public confidence in
its immigration system it should get a grip on its borders, by firing the crooked officials who wave people across illicitly. It
should make it easier for migrants to plug skills shortages,
which aggravate the difficulty South Africa already has keeping
the water flowing and the lights on. And rather than barring
firms from hiring unskilled migrants it should make it easier to
hire anyone—looser labour rules would mostly benefit jobless
South Africans. It should also support free and fair elections in
Zimbabwe, without which the awful regime there will remain in
power and carry on driving its citizens to emigrate.
Many countries in Africa are trying to open their borders. The
African Union has proposed that its members follow the Euro
pean Union and embrace freedom of movement. The 15country
regional bloc in west Africa has gone furthest in making that aim
a reality; an east African bloc is growing more liberal, too. South
Africa, which aspires to lead the continent, oughtto be at the
vanguard of such efforts. Instead it is an outlier.nF
ew thingscome withnodownsidesatall.Richcountries
have almost completely banished infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis, cholera and malaria. Instead, their health minis
tries spend much of their time worrying about illnesses caused
by wealth. Cheap, caloriedense food has abolished starvation in
the rich world, but it also encourages diabetes. Sedentary, white
collar jobs are less arduous (and less lethal) than manual work.
They also promote obesity and heart disease.
Even education is not always an unalloyed good. Over the
past few decades, East Asia has seen a stunning rise in the rate of
shortsightedness. And a growing pile of evidence suggests that
the main underlying reason for this is education—specifically,
the fact that children spend large parts of the day in compara
tively dimly lit classrooms (see Science & technology section).
Before the long economic booms that began
in the 1960s, myopia was uncommon in East
Asia. These days, among the young, it is almost
ubiquitous. In Hong Kong, Singapore and Tai
pei more than 80% of schoolleavers are short
sighted. In Seoul over nine in ten young men
are. China, which began its economic rise later,
is catching up. Data from as far afield as
Guangzhou in the south and Inner Mongolia in
the north show myopia rates among young people of about 80%.
If East Asia is the centre of the epidemic, the West is not im
mune. Good data are harder to come by. But studies suggest rates
of between 20% and 40% in Europe, an order of magnitude high
er than the natural state of affairs. One study in California found
a rate of 59% among 17 to 19yearolds.
There are, admittedly, worse things to suffer from. But short
sightedness is not always benign. Glasses and contact lenses are
an expensive, lifelong hassle. In parts of rural China, where
some families cannot afford either, children struggle in the very
schools that are causing the problem. And severe myopia predis
poses those enduring it to other eye diseases in middle age,
some of which can cause untreatable loss of vision. Govern
ments in Asia are increasingly worried about the publichealthimplicationsofentiregenerationsgrowing up shortsighted.
Those in other parts of the world should start worrying, too.
The evidence suggests that regular exposure to bright day
light is vital in properly controlling the growth of children’s
eyes. Too little light leads to elongated, shortsighted eyes. Re
searchers think that this explains why rates are so high in Asia,
where a strong cultural emphasis on the value of education
leads to long school days and, often, private tutoring in the after
noon and evening. That leaves little time for sunshine. Western
children, whose parents are increasingly worried by a hyper
competitive jobs market that threatens much less secure em
ployment than they enjoyed, are beginning to go the same way.
Special eyedrops, as well as clever glasses and contact lenses,
may be able to slow the progression of myopia once it has start
ed. But prevention is better than mitigation,
and the science suggests a cheap, straightfor
ward measure. A series of encouraging trials,
many conducted in Taiwan, show that giving
schoolchildren—and especially those in prim
ary education—more time outside can cut the
number who go on to develop myopia. An is
landwide policy of doing just that seems to
have begun reversing the decadeslong rise in
myopia rates. Similar attempts in Singapore relied on parents,
who proved more reluctant to change their behaviour, perhaps
worried that other parents might not follow suit, leaving their
children at a disadvantage in the classroom.
Governments are well placed to solve such collectiveaction
problems, while reassuring anxious parents that a bit less class
room time is unlikely to be catastrophic. After all, countries
such as Finland and Sweden do well in global education rank
ings with a less intense approach to education. Giving more out
door time to young children would still leave room for them to
cram for exams in their teenage years. And longer breaks in the
playground may also make a dent in other richworld problems
such as childhood obesity. Farsighted governments should
send the kids outdoors.nTo fight an epidemic of myopia, schools should send their students outsideProtecting the pupils
Short-sightedness