Bono peers through his stupid glasses and spies corruption<gasp>

[Bozo Erectus]

So if we let thousands starve, the survivors will eventually figure out how to not starve?

Jackal, literally millions more are dying as we dump more and more aid on them every year. So does that indicate to you that theres a correlation between their well being and the benevolence of the West? Who is responsible for preventing Africans from starving? Westerners, or Africans? If not Africans, why not?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

You didn't answer my question at all. And sorry, but there are many more in need than you are. Plus there's a lot more to 'transparency' than your flippant post makes out.

Nothing flippant about it. Think about it. I'll stop being flippant if you will.

Because they don't have the infrastructure. Can't drill for diamonds with no drills

Buy some. Who provided the West with free drilling equipment?

not enough healthy men to do the drilling etc

Cut down on the corruption and use some of the extra cash to improve the healthcare infrastructure.

etc. Read all the other Third World Debt and African Poverty threads that repeatedly raise their heads on here for the explanation why. It's been explained a number of times why they don't have the infrastructure. I find it hard to believe that you haven't ever read any of these explanations. So quit acting like a goldfish.

Ive read plenty of them. If I think Africans are human beings and able to fend for themselves like anyone else, I could read a million of them, and my opinion wouldnt change.

 

[betazed]

Bozo, why blame Bono? As you can see not all of us even in CFC OT get it.

Most of us cannot see past the three letter word ... aid.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Bozo, why blame Bono? As you can see not all of us even in CFC OT get it.

For years he's been a cheerleader for the whitemans burden worldview. It just drives me nuts, I couldnt imagine being more offended by it if I was actually African myself. His syrupy condescension towards Africans sickens me.

Most of us cannot see past the three letter word ... aid.

Well until that changes we're doing a disservice to Africans, and ourselves.

 

[warpus]

They need infrastructure, yes. What I dont understand is why the infrastructure has to be given to them. Nothing but dry dirt?? Africa has immense resources. Why do you think theyre unable to build it for themselves? Or buy it?

Africa is the $&!*hole it is because of leaders who only care about building palaces and buying BMWs for their 50 wives, instead of investing into infrastructure and worrying about the people.

That's already on top of all the %@^ europeans caused when they carved the continent into arbitrary colonies and later nations.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Africa is the $&!*hole it is because of leaders who only care about building palaces and buying BMWs for their 50 wives, instead of investing into infrastructure and worrying about the people.

Yes, and by providing all this aid, all we do is enable these corrupt governments to steal their countries wealth. The more servces we undertake to provide for their citizens, the more money that allows them to steal.

That's already on top of all the %@^ europeans caused when they carved the continent into arbitrary colonies and later nations.

Yep and its guilt over what we did to them in the past which is what bizarrely motivates us to continue screwing them over in the present.

 

[Atropos]

Care to detail the harm and how it outweighs the good? Aid with transparency brings good, like health care, education, sanitation, power supply etc.

You need those things if you're going to help yourself, as you seem so keen for Africans to do. I want that too. But you can't help yourself with nothing but dry dirt to rub between your fingers. They need the infrastructure in place first. Bono wants to give them that in a transparent fashion. So do I. I think you would too if you appreciated how necessary it is to get them to a state of 'helping themselves'.

1. Healthcare. How, exactly, is aid going to help when what few doctors and nurses get certified in Africa all leave for the West? Dumping 15 million cases of penicillin on the dockside is not going to help without doctors to administer it, and all the aid in the world is not going to get a doctor to stay in Zambia.

2. Education. A similar point - where are the teachers?

3. Sanitation. Where are the engineers?

4. Power supply. So now we have another huge dam at enormous expense...pity that the militia has stolen the copper cables for scrap and the lines were never run out to the remoter villages in any case.

Aid can be part of the solution, particularly in terms of food aid, to alleviate short-term crises (although, even here, there was a case a few years ago when Zambia refused a US contingent of grain because it *might* have been "contaminated" with genetically modified products, which would have killed Zambian exports to the EU).

Unfortunately, the infrastructure which, as you rightly point out, Africa needs, is not very well provided by aid. If the West would take the inventer of the CAP into a dark room at midnight and hit him repeatedly over the head with a mallet until sorry, then that might do something to alleviate the problem over the long term. Certainly it's better than providing endless funding which, in most cases, does little but shore up corrupt regimes.

Oh, and regarding Bono: how much free publicity do you think he's gotten out of the "compassion" gig?

 

[EolTheDarkElf]

I swear we live in a stupid world. I guy can't even wear glasses of his choosing without some random people calling him stupid... lol....

 

[blackheart]

I have an idea, continue sending the aid, but NOT TO THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS.

 

[Brian_B]

Is it radical for me to think reestablishing colonialism in Africa to some degree wouldn't be that bad of an idea? And I'm completely serious about that.

 

[Atropos]

I have an idea, continue sending the aid, but NOT TO THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS.

Problem is, there are not enough aid workers to hand-distribute the aid to individuals...

 

[blackheart]

Is it radical for me to think reestablishing colonialism in Africa to some degree wouldn't be that bad of an idea? And I'm completely serious about that.

Colonialism never completely left Africa. Most of the corrupt regimes there are in some way supported by at least one European government.

Problem is, there are not enough aid workers to hand-distribute the aid to individuals...

Replace the government?

 

[Brian_B]

Colonialism never completely left Africa. Most of the corrupt regimes there are in some way supported by at least one European government.

Indeed. Which is why I think we should probably just be more honest about it since there are many countries in Africa that don't seem to be able to manage to field a stable government. Part of me knows it's crazy to say... see if Somalia wants to become the 51st state in the Union or at least a territory like Guam or the Virgin Islands; but really, these countries need some form of authority or it's a lost cause.

 

[Atropos]

Indeed. Which is why I think we should probably just be more honest about it since there are many countries in Africa that don't seem to be able to manage to field a stable government. Part of me knows it's crazy to say... see if Somalia wants to become the 51st state in the Union or at least a territory like Guam or the Virgin Islands; but really, these countries need some form of authority or it's a lost cause.

Try imposing "authority" on a place like the Congo, which is the size of Western Europe and overrun with petty militias, and you'll see it's not so simple. In other areas, such as Zimbabwe, the problem is too much authority, not too little.