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smokingbootI do not know if this is a political post. If it is, I make no apology for length or content, and put it behind no cut. I wouldn't normally do this, but people who don't want to know can scroll down, just this once. I'll try not to clutter lists with something this long again, but this time I must. Because politics is just about people, and we are all involved whether we like it or not.
I turned away from the Live8 concert yesterday, because when I learned previously that Liveaid money had been used in forced mass relocations and that the organisations involved in the famine relief had mainly kept quiet about it, I felt ill. So I turned away yesterday, only to find I was wrong.
A part of me is still the passionate, perhaps over-zealous hippy idealist who thinks that just the feeling of all those high happy people must be good for the planet. And a different part of me says that all the emotion in the world is no good if we do nothing about it, that we will cheer and then we will go home, after experiencing the greatest vibe, we will talk about experiencing the greatest vibe; we will watch the highlights on TV and then we will go and do something else. One Beeb political journalist said 'We used to have movements. Now we have moments.' He talked about connecting the moments. That made sense to me.
So. Yes, focusing on G8, ending global poverty, yes.
An oft repeated argument is that there is no point getting rid of a country's debt, because they just accrue it again, along with an entertaining habit in demanding hand-outs and pulling on the guilt strings of the West. 'They never learn,' is one way of putting it; a curious, hectoring attitude. 'They never develop political awareness, never learn the strategies of good government because they get away with bad government.'
Who gets away with bad government? The people of these lands never have the chance to develop democracy, or any other form of commonly agreed secure government, because the men at the top are gangsters turned politicians, and their spokesmen walk the streets with big guns. The base of their power has always been weaponry. They are in it for short term gain, so they couldn't care less about government, or a country's development. The money will continue to pour in, and continue to fund robber barons even while it feeds the people they feed off.
So, to end poverty now, feed the people. To end it long term, help the people at the bottom of the ladder to get involved in fair(er) government and create long term prosperity by removing the robber barons'weapons. And that means ending the arms trade. This is also a matter for the G8, because look who does all the selling:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGPOL300072005?open&of=ENG-366
Some argue that if we don't sell those arms, someone else will. They might, but not for long if the international community puts pressure, and yes, that means economic pressure on them. Which, among the powers, is invulnerable to that massively useful tool, money? And here, we can control that tool with our vote, with giving it or withholding it.
If every person who watched the concert ensured their government knew that in order to keep their support, this G8 was required to a) end the spiral of debt and interest in the poorest nations, and b) end the irresponsible trade of arms in the developing world, I believe Live8 could become much more than a moment.
'Music makes the people come together.' Well fine, we're together. Now let's do something.
I turned away from the Live8 concert yesterday, because when I learned previously that Liveaid money had been used in forced mass relocations and that the organisations involved in the famine relief had mainly kept quiet about it, I felt ill. So I turned away yesterday, only to find I was wrong.
A part of me is still the passionate, perhaps over-zealous hippy idealist who thinks that just the feeling of all those high happy people must be good for the planet. And a different part of me says that all the emotion in the world is no good if we do nothing about it, that we will cheer and then we will go home, after experiencing the greatest vibe, we will talk about experiencing the greatest vibe; we will watch the highlights on TV and then we will go and do something else. One Beeb political journalist said 'We used to have movements. Now we have moments.' He talked about connecting the moments. That made sense to me.
So. Yes, focusing on G8, ending global poverty, yes.
An oft repeated argument is that there is no point getting rid of a country's debt, because they just accrue it again, along with an entertaining habit in demanding hand-outs and pulling on the guilt strings of the West. 'They never learn,' is one way of putting it; a curious, hectoring attitude. 'They never develop political awareness, never learn the strategies of good government because they get away with bad government.'
Who gets away with bad government? The people of these lands never have the chance to develop democracy, or any other form of commonly agreed secure government, because the men at the top are gangsters turned politicians, and their spokesmen walk the streets with big guns. The base of their power has always been weaponry. They are in it for short term gain, so they couldn't care less about government, or a country's development. The money will continue to pour in, and continue to fund robber barons even while it feeds the people they feed off.
So, to end poverty now, feed the people. To end it long term, help the people at the bottom of the ladder to get involved in fair(er) government and create long term prosperity by removing the robber barons'weapons. And that means ending the arms trade. This is also a matter for the G8, because look who does all the selling:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGPOL300072005?open&of=ENG-366
Some argue that if we don't sell those arms, someone else will. They might, but not for long if the international community puts pressure, and yes, that means economic pressure on them. Which, among the powers, is invulnerable to that massively useful tool, money? And here, we can control that tool with our vote, with giving it or withholding it.
If every person who watched the concert ensured their government knew that in order to keep their support, this G8 was required to a) end the spiral of debt and interest in the poorest nations, and b) end the irresponsible trade of arms in the developing world, I believe Live8 could become much more than a moment.
'Music makes the people come together.' Well fine, we're together. Now let's do something.
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Re: Part 2
Date: 2005-07-04 08:10 pm (UTC)Africa's problems are manyfold and a simplistic view of debt relief really doesn't go anywhere near them.
Gordon's 'gift' isn't the same as the debt relief issue, so I don't want to go into that here. Suffice it to say, I don't like bribes either, and I wish this government would stop using them.
The debt relief is about wiping out what is owed. I agree it's not as generous as it looks, but for different reasons to the ones you cite; the debt might as well be wiped out because many of the debtor nations will never be able to pay it off. It's just not feasible. They can carry on trying and struggling of course; How long did Britain take to pay off its debt to the States? That's with the benefit of secure government /sound infrastructure /north sea oil/ the wealth of empire behind us. We were the richest, it crippled us. Do we expect better from the developing world?
While they are paying back, they develop no long term ability to buy, to sell, or even to stick to a contract. So it's giving up on a lost loan in return for helping to build long term consumer markets. I think. With my deep understanding and clear insight into global economics:-P
Arrangements for future loans surely do need to change, as points out. But wiping the slate clean now is a sensible beginning, rather than a pointless gesture. I agree with much else you say. It is up to us to make L8 more than a free gig/empty gesture. I just don't know how...
Re: Part 2
Date: 2005-07-04 08:13 pm (UTC)I am an idiot, and it's time for bed.