The UN has released a ‘new bold and sweeping’ plan to reduce poverty. Predictably, political and social reform are completely avoided in the document. What, then, is the plan?
The report says drastically reducing poverty in its many guises – hunger, illiteracy, disease – is “utterly affordable.” To fulfill this goal, industrial nations would need to double aid to poor countries, to one-half of 1 percent of national incomes, from one-quarter of 1 percent.
In short, more handouts and bully tactics for the countries who are doing everything right. Clearly, the way to help the poor is to give them money, which lifts them out of poverty, until they spend the money. At which time they are poor again and another UN report is released.
This is, of course, assuming that the money we give does not end up in the pockets of Kofi Annan’s son.
Also note the cashing in on the recent disaster in Indonesia, India, Thailand, etc.:
The worldwide outpouring of grief and aid since the tsunami in South Asia killed more than 150,000 people has stirred hope here that the same wellspring can be tapped for what Professor Sachs called a “silent tsunami” of global poverty that kills more than 150,000 children every month from malaria alone.
Grotesque.
submandave
“kills more than 150,000 children every month from malaria alone”
And the #1 way to eliminate malaria, the way all the top industrialized nations have, is with DDT. Oh, but we don’t mean that. After all, someone said it was “bad” (even if there has never been a reliable epidemiological study linking DDT usage to any health risk).
As Artie Lang might say, “WAAAAH, my kids are dying because I have an f-ed up government that robs the treasury, so give me more money.”
Kimmitt
And the #1 way to eliminate malaria, the way all the top industrialized nations have, is with DDT.
Er, no — the top industrialized nations have eliminated malaria mostly through major public works projects to deny the appropriate habitats to various mosquito species. Mosquitos can become resistant to DDT, which makes it less than awesome for long-term solutions.
That said, state aid isn’t generally particularly effective in non-crisis situations (it’s key in crises). There are better ways to do things.
JakeV
I don’t know whether the report is right or not that more aid from richer nations would be very effective in reducing deaths from poverty.
But I don’t think it’s “grotesque” at all to point out that there are slow-motion and less dramatic global catastrophes which inflict a human cost that comparable to that of the tsunami, while receiving far less attention.
Your suggestion that in making this comparison, the report is somehow trying to “cash in” on the disaster seems entirely unwarranted.
AdamSmithee
The report is a strong call to arms, but it is over-optimistic on what we can accomplish. See here
Aaron
Kimmit,
DDT is very effective.
The trucks came by my house spraying in Indonesia before.
Well, at least I didn’t get malaria.
Kimmitt
Hey, not going to knock you not getting malaria.