another article for the school newspaper...

“More and better aid.” That was the first point of a campaign that shook the world this July. Live 8 concerts urged the public to create pressure on their governments to contribute more funds to helping the poorest of the poor. But are they really helping?

New Zealand economist Jim Peron does not think so at all. He criticises the West for believing that money is the answer by comparing foreign aid to welfare:”When you pay people to be dysfunctional the amount of dysfunctionality will increase.”

In the 1950s, Africa was exporting food. In the 1970s, it started to decline and foreign aid began to pour in. It is now considered the poorest continent in the world. Financial or food aid rarely results in any good. Corrupted governments or dictators use aid money for war and social reform resulting in even more hunger. If that’s what brought the money in the first place, why not?

In countries where food aid is indeed distributed to the poor, local farmers fall into poverty because they are unable to compete with the low prices of UN-subsidized World Food Program. Not enough crops are produced, economy suffers, and the sadistic cycle continues. But why should anyone worry? The west is full of charities and individuals striving to fulfil their duty to compassion and provide the next shipment of aid.

Even compassion laced with the best of intents can be out of place. In the words of the Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, Africans have to help themselves. In a world where no help was given, African countries would be forced to examine their policies and renew trade amongst themselves. The continent is far richer in natural resources than media portrays it. “There's a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn't do all that poorly either.” Shikwati also cites results of the downpour of clothing donations: “In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria's textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000.” This is the result of the Westerners’ struggle for a clean conscience.

According to the Make Poverty History website, 50,000 people still die every day from poverty-related causes. The estimates are that 201,331 people are born every day. The unfortunate fact is that there is still only one Earth. If the rich people of the industrialized countries want to deliver the poor from poverty, they have to lower their own standard of living. Equality is not a one-way deal, and aid is sometimes not as beneficial as it seems.


Sources
www.makepovertyhistory.ca
www.liberalvalues.org.nz, “Journals”, “Jim Peron”
service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,363663,00.html
www.live8live.com
www.geohive.com

this is an article i wrote for my school newspaper...

How are you celebrating Christmas this year?

This year’s International Buy Nothing Day (BND) hit me with bits of hallway conversations consisting of “I wanna go shopping soooooo bad!” I must confess that I celebrated the day, November 26, without the ceremony and thrill of BND 2004. (It’s very easy to get kicked out of the Eaton Centre if you’re dressed as a zombie, stickering anything and everything that doesn’t move, and telling people to buuuuuy moooore thiiings in the manner of the living dead.)
The sad truth is that most of the people hitting the malls do give the impression of the living dead. We walk in the midst of flashy advertising and clever marketing stunts, blind to the reality of endless consumption. If everyone on Earth lived like an average North American we would need nine Earths to sustain us.
And whatever happened to spending time with people instead of spending money on gifts they don’t really need? If Christmas has a point, it is to embrace the spiritual in our lives, stop, breathe, and reconnect. Things will never replace people and the precious moments we could spend with them. The void won’t be filled with that fleeting sense of accomplishment we get after buying yet another spiffy outfit.
Consider this a challenge to find an alternative. You can make people happy without spending money on them. Cook a fancy dinner for your family. Teach your friends how to tango. Spend a whole day with that special someone, and exchange handmade gifts. Give your friends your undivided attention, write a poem, paint a picture, make a calendar… the options are endless.
If you do need to buy something, make smart choices. Buying from local small businesses is great for the economy, same goes for buying made in Canada. Many stores such as Ten Thousand Villages sell beautiful fair trade gifts from all around the world.
Whatever you choose to do, make a conscious choice. Neither the advertising companies nor mass media should take that away from you.
Keep it peaceful, keep it green.

for more information go to www.buynothingchristmas.org

"morality... is a convenient term for socially approved habits. " Ruth Benedict


http://www.2008-freetibet.org/

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/


if you can read slovak... http://www.pospolitost.sk/hlavna.htm ["nationalist" movements, or neo-nazi, really, in eastern europe. these people promote hate and racism, use the language of WWII germany, refer to their leader as 'fuhrer', greet each other with the nazi 'on guard'... ] tomorrow there will be a protest in bratislava, the capital of slovakia. this group doesn't agree with the fact that there are some members of the police force that are willing to defend the constitution, specifically the laws forbidding the promotion of hate.



a student was beat up on a streetcar because he had the look of a supporter of the 'people against racism' group [long hair, leftist.. oh the stereotypes..]

this has been happening for a while. i had heard on numerous occasions that if you have long hair [and you're a guy..] it is not recommended you go out late at night. (also, it is not recommended to go out if you shave your hair, because the ANTIFA [anti-facists] will get you, thinking you're a nazi. )

not a single politician has said anything so far. no one dares to publicly condemn an act of violence.

is fear such a human thing?



i gave my friend some answers to a quiz today. is that a socially approved habit?