I'm all for helping out Africa, as well as any other impoverished nation in the world. I think that it is truly unethical for the wealth countries to have allowed such an international disparity in wealth & development perpetuate and propogate for so long. I also believe that Live8 truly does have a chance at forcing the policy makers of the Group of 8 to address this disparity and perhaps permanently irradicate it when it comes to Africa.
But, as a serious student of politics [that's right, I actually study the stuff instead of pretending to like so many current bloggers . . . a rant for a different time] I feel that I should point something out. Something, that to anyone ever having studied or been involved in politics is quite painfully obvious -- Money is not the answer!
For years now, wealthy nations have given Africa ample aid to have solved a good number of its problems. Yet, these problems continue to this day due mostly in part to rampant political corruption, horribly structured economies, and little public accountability. We must learn from the past history of our African aid relations if we are to have a chance at actually helping this continent that deserves so much more out of history than it has received. Let's make sure that this flawed past does not continue, and that we take a fresh approach to solving this problem. Even a locally fresh approach would be preferred to our past.
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Thanks Josh!
I'm not trying to stake out a conservative position. I'd love nothing more than to give oodles of money to all developing nations, but only if they're going to properly use it.
We need to find methods of encouraging true reform on their domestic level without having the appearance of too much meddling/bullying from the Western world.
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