fanatiquefou said:
Okay, then, what do you suggest?
sometimes the most logical and prudent course of action is in fact, inaction or maintaining the present course until such time as a change would yield benefits.
fanatiquefou said:
Why just sit there on your butt pooh-poohing the efforts of people who are genuinely concerned and are trying to do something about the situation?
well, I highly doubt that any of the pop stars are genuinely concerned, they are all multi millionairres, that money could go a long way. and I highly doubt that most of the people who attended Live8 are genuinely concerned either.
it is very easy to just blame governments and mindlessly support some foolish statist course of action. this way we alleviate our guilt, and feel that we are making a difference.
fanatiquefou said:
What better ideas do you have?
agree to suspend the repayments for a period of time, the debt would still be there, but they would not be shouldering the burden of it. then we see what progress is made. if a country is progressing, we can continue to copver their repayments and, in time, extend debt relief to those countries who are reducing corruption, democratising, furthering liberty, securing property rights, maintaining the rule of law. for those countries who did not spend the money wisely, who did not tackle corruption etc for the leaders who spend money on mansions and cars for their staff and foreign holidays and aeroplanes etc, they would have to pay their debts.
fanatiquefou said:
Should we all just give up, then?
until the issue of government is solved, there is little we can do but to alleviate suffering. we - individuals - should be giving money to CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Water Aid, charities that bypass governments and work on the ground.
fanatiquefou said:
What kind of kick do you get out of bad-mouthing a movement like this that is at least drawing attention to a very serious problem?
I don't get a kick out of anything. they are not drawing attention to the very serious problem. they are avoiding the problem, which is the political situation. during Live8, no mention was made of kleptocratic African dictators.