Live8 and the century long African project

[deb1]

LEt’s face it, poverty makes us feel bad, leaves us with horrible guilt. The problem with the LIve8 concert is that it doesn’t accomplish anything but making us feel good. That is, ironically, an extreme form of selfishness. Yes, our guilt will be temporarily aleviated, and many will walk around patting themselves on the back but nothing will change. We might even do more harm then good. It ends up being all about us and how we feel, not about helping Africans.

What is the solutin? I don’t know. It depends on each individual African country. None of the solutions will be easy or simple. I do wonder why the Live8 supporters haven’t suggested that more people serve in such organizations as the Peace Corps. Going to Africa and actually getting dirty doing hands on work, would seem to have more affect then throwing money at the problem.

 

[vern_humphrey]

wabrams:

First, we’re doing it in Iraq, why not Africa too?

Second, when did the US start caring about that?

Third, absolutely none.

The first two points have been addressed by rlg94086.

The third, “how may of your friends and neighbors are you willing to sacrifice in this quest?” is crucial – because these brutal dictators will not be overthrown without bloodshed.

So if you think WE, the US, should do it, how many of our friends and neighbors are we willing to sacrifice?

 

[HagiaSophia]

From Jonah Goldberg:

"…And the spectacle was impressive, so much so that Chris Martin of Coldplay declared it “the greatest thing that’s ever been organized probably in the history of the world.” (You’ve heard of the Normandy invasion, the Manhattan Project, the Marshall Plan, various moon landings, the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church? Impromptu flea markets! We’ve got a major-league telecast here.) Passing over Mr. Martin’s slight overstatement, no harm will come from conceding that it was a very nice concert for those interested in such things.

But tell me, how exactly was Live8 a monumental demonstration of support for helping Africa?

Perhaps we could organize an ice cream and candy giveaway at the local mall to show that children are against the deficit? Anyone who shows up is for raising taxes. Or, hey - and I’m just thinking out loud now - maybe Madonna could invite everybody to show their concern about global warming by coming to her mansion (pick one) and helping themselves to whatever’s in her fridge…"

"…Very smart people have been trying really, really hard to make poverty history for a long time. Heck, they’ve been working very hard to make Africa just ever-so-slightly less hellish for a very long time. Debt relief is probably part of a potential solution, but without ending Africa’s tendency to produce horrible, greedy dictatorships, debt relief is more akin to paying off a drug addict’s credit cards. Even if the concert-goers were speaking with a single voice, they weren’t saying anything of much use, except “we care” - and aren’t we special people for it? Even if the concert-goers were speaking with a single voice, they weren’t saying anything of much use, except “we care” - and aren’t we special people for it? Geldof summed up the attitude perfectly when he said, “Something must be done, even if it doesn’t work.”

“This concert was an exercise in boosting the self-esteem of the audience. Included in the ticket price was grace on the cheap. T-shirts cost extra. Live8 was an appeal to the vanity of people who collectively aren’t concerned enough about Africa to watch a classical music concert…”

townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/jg20050706.shtml

 

[HagiaSophia]

Don’t blame only the West for Africa’s poverty,” Father Eugenio Ferrari, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Kenya, told the Fides news service.

Commenting on last week’s meeting of leaders from the G8 industrial nations, and the demands for greater Western aid to African countries, Father Ferrari observed: " I do not agree that only the West is to blame for Africa’s poverty, as some Europeans naively affirm."

“African countries have been independent for more than 40 years now," the missionary priest observed. "How is it possible that African political leaders have still not taken concrete measures for the development of their people, the poorest ones in particular?”

Father Ferrari went on: “Corruption in Africa must be eliminated to ensure that Western aid really goes to fund development programs."

cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=38364

 

[HagiaSophia]

In the lead-up to this week’s Group of Eight meeting in Scotland much ink was spilled over what is the best way to help developing nations, particularly in Africa, overcome poverty. Writing in the British newspaper the Guardian on June 8 African businessman Andrew Rugasira said he seeks what all entrepreneurs desire: “markets and equal opportunities to exploit them.”

What Africa needs, he explained, is wealth creation, and this is best done by the private sector. But trade barriers in the richer countries prevent African countries from exporting their goods.

Rugasira argued that if the continent’s exports could grow by just 1% this would generate revenue of more than 40 billion pounds ($70 billion) a year, a greater stimulus than could be hoped from the often-broken promises of additional aid.

In a similar vein on June 24 the Guardian published a commentary by Matthew Lockwood, former aid worker and author of a new book on Africa. He argued that Africa needs to imitate the example of the Asian Tiger economies.

He observed that in 1981 there was a call for a doubling aid, and that over the following years it rose by 130%. In those years, however, incomes fell. In some cases, aid did bring economic growth, Lockwood said. But aid alone is not sufficient. Lockwood doubts that relying on agricultural exports will generate sufficient income, even if trade barriers are reduced.

What Africa needs to do, he argued, is to diversify its economies and develop new industries. As well, it is essential to reduce corruption and to improve the functioning of government bureaucracy, making additional aid conditional on these reforms.

ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=58530