The Group of Eight finance ministers will meet this week in Perthshire, Scotland to address various weighty financial decisions that their governments have expropriated from the more-capable hands of their citizens. Thanks in part to the globally choreographed performances of dozens of famous, caring, and would-be-famous-and-caring rock stars, the G-8—a group, not of countries, but of governments of countries—are being cajoled to “make poverty history” by protesting and looting. FULL ARTICLE
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/3790/its-never-enough/
It’s Never Enough
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The split (in general terms) between “us and them” seems to be they believe that poverty bloomed in the third world due to imperialism. We believe in the simple principal that that which is subsidized flourishes, and that aid merely inflates poverty, and poverty previously existed despite imperialism.
So whether it can be properly established that imperialism did in fact impoverish the third world, simple handouts do not rectify the situation, it only exacerbates it.
As tired as the axiom is, teaching a man to fish is better than merely giving him one. Unfortunately there are too many who condemn the very mechanism that is the only one that will help – the market.
Dictionary.com will help us shed a little light on this issue:
Poverty – the state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.
If it is our objective to eradicate poverty in Africa then, according to Def #1, Africa would need to establish a MEANS of providing for their own material needs or comforts. Will the forgiveness of existing debt accomplish this? Will the granting of pre-forgiven debt help accomplish this?
Would forgiving all those who are in credit card debt up to their eyeballs in this country help them to better manage their own finances?
If you gave the guy on the side of the road with the cardboard sign a hundred dollar bill – would he save some of the money for his future or would he be able to eat AND get high tonight?
The poor will always be with us. The reality is that “poorness” is not defined by what one has, but by one does not have.
Are the people in Africa “poor” of their own volition? Or are they poor because they are held down by oppresive dictatorships and communist regimes that do not recognise a man’s right to property?
If the people of Africa were free, they might have a fighting chance to establish their own means for providing material needs and comforts.
Who is being relieved of the debt burden? Who gets the aid? Is it the people who do not have enough to eat or is it the oppresive regimes?
If we inject money into the hands of the dictators and communists will we help those who do not have enough to eat or will we enable the dictators and communinists to continue into the next decade?
If we need to feel guilty about something in this country it shouldn’t be that we don’t give enough to the poor. If we need to feel guilty about something it should be that we allow our government to prop up dictators and other “friendly” regimes that do not recognise man’s right to own property.
I am of course preaching to the choir. Nevertheless:
if Africans want debt relief, all they have to do is simply write the World Bank and their other creditors and tell them they will not pay the debt.
Since they won’t do this, then I suspect “debt relief” is a euphemism for Western taxpayers assuming the loans to maintain the credit ratings of African dictators.
Make poverty history! That’s a nice END, for which most people do not know the MEANS. Even the heads of state remain ignorant, or pretend to be. At the ending of the G-8 conference the proposed solution will undoubtedly be to throw more money at the problem, as it has been for the last fifty years. “My own” prime minister(Netherlands) called for an increase in aid to 7% of GNP and hoped the other countries would do the same. When are they going to see or admit that the current policy doesn’t work. It reminds me of an audiotape of Robert LeFevre1, where he addressed the following problem: When you have decided you wish to replace the pyramids of Gizeh say 100km to the north, you think you can complete this with 500 million dollars. After a year you see that now the pyramids are 150 km away from where you want them to be, you decide you’re now going to use 1 billion dollars. After another year the pyramids are 200 km away, you decide you will use 5 billion. After yet another year there 250 km away. When are you going to admit that you’re not going to accomplish the END with these MEANS? Government has as always been inefficient in solving a problem, whether it be: crime, poverty terrorism etc.. If they really want to help the poor countries they would have implemented free trade a long time ago. That is the first solution to the problem and in my opinion one of the best, others will be charity, which is far more efficient in calculating good investments, and recognition of property rights in those countries(as mentioned above). While governments and people remain ignorant of the real solutions the poor countries will stagnate for another fifty years of aid.
1Robert LeFevre: What’s the right amount of government, available at this site. “Poverty” is also good, but that deals with national poverty.
Half the poverty in Africa is intentional where the ruling tribe is killing off the other tribes.
So worth the read:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2ENTNVFJHPALRQFIQMFCM5OAVCBQYJVC?xml=/opinion/2005/07/05/do0502.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/07/05/ixopinion.html
Why not try capitalism?
Thanks, Laura, for the link.
“The rockers demand we give our fokkin’ money to African dictators to manage, while they give their fokkin’ money to Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts to manage. Which of those models makes more sense?”
The crass hypocrisy of it all! Can’t trust even the capitalists these days!
For God’s Sake: Please Stop the Aid!
DER SPIEGEL 27/2005 – July 4, 2005
SPIEGEL Interview with African Economics Expert
The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.
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