They'd Rather Have a G8
Poverty activist (and part-time singer) Bono is cheering the decision of ("hearltless Republican") George W. Bush and other G8 leaders to double aid to poor nations and provide major debt relief. "If an Irish rock star can quote Churchill, this is not the end of extreme poverty, but it is the beginning of the end," the U2 singer said. I hope he's right, but without an end to Third World corruption and major worldview transformation in the poor regions of the world, we can expect to see lots more "Live Eight" concerts in the 21st century. While rich Western nations can help, poverty is ultimately the responsibility of the poor nations themselves.
posted by Stan Guthrie at 9:48 AM
StanGuthrie.com
2 Comments:
Poverty may be the responsibility of developing nations, but it doesn't help when they spend more on servicing bad debts than they do health care. And we're partly to blame for those bad debts, many of which were handed out ages ago to dictators and under normal circumstances not a loan you'd want to take.
We also share some of the blame with our trade rules. By protecting American jobs we often leave an unlevel playing field, making it harder for impoverished nations to trade on a global scale, which would enable them to rise out of their poverty.
Live 8, the One Campaign, and DATA are not about giving a handout to Africa. They're about leveling the playing field.
On your two points: Amen, and amen.
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