And so, Live8 is behind us, thankfully. Every time these overzealous do-gooders come begging, I can't help but think that there has to be a better way than sinking endless mountains of cash into problems that never seem to improve.

How many billions have been thrown at Africa in the last 20 years? How much spent trying to feed them and relieve their poverty? For all the investment made by the countless millions who hope to save these lives, what real difference has been made? We still see today the same images that have been thrown at us ever since I can remember. Starving children, diseased parents, filthy water, and all the heart-rending imagery that comes with it.

The situation is grave, I'll certainly grant it that much. But what real difference can a little extra cash raised by an event such as Live8 really contribute in terms of an incremental improvement in what these people have?

That money will fall fluttering into the bottomless well of need just like every penny thrown at the problem before. To all those of you who feel so warm inside and pleased with your charity after having contributed recently, know this: you have achieved nothing.

Perhaps the money will allow for some children to live a little longer than perhaps they would have. But what does this do for their people? Suddenly, as those marked for death are granted longevity, you have more mouths to feed, and just as little food to spread between them. The need increases, the hunger spreads, and the rot only tightens its grip.

As I say, there has to be a better way. Perhaps I'm simply too dispassionate to have what could be termed an acceptable point of view on such matters. Regardless, I do have a view, for what it's worth. That view does not include sending aid packages to a country that is wholly incapable of supporting itself. It does not include cancelling thrid world debt, and trusting thes countries to govern themselves in a mature fashion yet to be witnessed in modern history.

Instead, I feel the money would be better spent building an infrastructure by which the people could eventually support themselves. Schools, housing, plumbing and sanitation. The key is educating the right people to take over the required roles of a new society. This education not only allows these people to get back onto their own feet, but also, given time, allows them to tackle the remaining problems of disease and their debts.

Of course, while this infrastructure is being built, people are dying. Hunger and disease will claim countless millions of lives while the continent is being rebuilt from the ground up. But from my perspective, this is a necessary sacrifice. Ultimately, we have two choices. We can continue to feed the insatiable poverty, pissing unfathomable amounts of cash into problems that feed on such investment. Or, with anti-humantiarian indifference, allow people to suffer and die while we build a better world for generations to come to enjoy without the daily threat of famine, decrepitude and death.

There are and always will be those that will argue that we must strive to save every life we can. I'm not averse to this concept, but surely more lives will ultimately be saved if the problems themselves have their feet cut from beneath them.

For all my pontification, however, it is and probably never will be my decision as to where the aid money goes, and how it is spent. But so long as what is, for me, the better method remains out of scope, the money that so many of you have found spare in your pockets remains firmly entrenched in mine. I'm sorry if that sounds arrogant and uncharitable, but I tire of seeing Africans suffer, and I tire of the endless stream of images designed to tug at out heartstrings and open our wallets. These issues need resolving, and that cannot be achieved without complete objectivity.

1 message(s) of denial

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Robert Mugabe - 2005-07-05 04:34:41

You're a genius! You should be in government. Why not join me? Robert

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