[Pretorian]

Did I? No, I just described what is happening to the world. Controlled and managed mongrelisation of the planet. I've never been to SA unfortunatly

[kevincarter]

I’m surprised no one has gone nuts about this thread yet! I started a “Let’s cut all international aid” kind of thread some time ago and people went crazy, but then this was back in the good old days when oil was at 60 something, the dollar was strong as a horse and the house market seemed steady.

Most of the third world aid it’s a scam, I’d say 99% of it. I totally agree with what others have said: more food = more people = more death in the long term.

No one thinks long term nowadays.

I don’t think most of Africa is a desert; in fact I’m quite confident that most African countries, if not all, *could* produce enough food on their own to survive. This thing is, theoretychally, technically and physically possible but, practically and politically impossible. Too much corruption, too many people with no hope, too many dreams from TV, not a good cocktail. And of course then there is us, the westerners, the civilized!, the IMF, the world bank, the UN, etc.. making sure none of this countries ever makes it beyond beggars and flies.

My suggestion? Leave them alone and they'll fix it their own way.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('peak', 'I')'m surprised so many people that voted in the poll agree with me

I thought a bunch of social liberals would lash out at me.

[Ludi]

The Food Race

[KaiserCesar06]

Direct-aid is pretty much useless since it gets in the wrong hands and ends up undercutting local producers, making them leave their land and leaving no local food supply. Our food also gets heavily subsidized and undercuts them as well. The best course of action to help Africa and the developing world would be open up the agricultural market, or close it down completely, and we could also as consumers buy more "fair trade" certified products that are meant to empower local producers and their communities sustainably. I think the aid system just perpetuates inequality and there needs to be a shift away from it.

[mos6507]

The best way to help Africa is to help them build massive solar farms. Translate that free sunlight into a worthwhile commodity.

[35Kas]

Nah the rich would just take over the solar farms and screw the nig... natives.

[BigTex]

If the people can't feed themselves without foreign food aid, doesn't providing food aid ensure that they will never be able to feed themselves.

The whole give a man a fish thing.

OTOH, I agree that most of the food probably doesn't get to the hungry people anyway. Food in a country of hungry people has VALLUE, thus it is great for thieves to steal and SELL, in addition to the corrupt governments taking it for themselves and their militaries.

If you send a pound of food over there, maybe a few bites makes it to a hungry person like you see in the commercials.

[peak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserCesar06', 'D')irect-aid is pretty much useless since it gets in the wrong hands and ends up undercutting local producers, making them leave their land and leaving no local food supply. Our food also gets heavily subsidized and undercuts them as well. The best course of action to help Africa and the developing world would be open up the agricultural market, or close it down completely, and we could also as consumers buy more "fair trade" certified products that are meant to empower local producers and their communities sustainably. I think the aid system just perpetuates inequality and there needs to be a shift away from it.

[KaiserCesar06]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('peak', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserCesar06', 'D')irect-aid is pretty much useless since it gets in the wrong hands and ends up undercutting local producers, making them leave their land and leaving no local food supply. Our food also gets heavily subsidized and undercuts them as well. The best course of action to help Africa and the developing world would be open up the agricultural market, or close it down completely, and we could also as consumers buy more "fair trade" certified products that are meant to empower local producers and their communities sustainably. I think the aid system just perpetuates inequality and there needs to be a shift away from it.

[Kylon]

I'm not African, but seems to me that Africa could improve their dire predictament if they-


1. Started growing soybeans, other beans, and other plants that didn't deplete the soil. This way they could continue farming the land over and over, without it continuing to become desert(from soil depletion that is, GW is another problem, plus eventually soil depletion could occur, without potassium or phosphorous). With huge swaths of land, and a crop that they could grow again and again, they could begin mass producing this crop to produce a food surplus which after feeding their people, could be exported for profit.


2. Construct a Africa wide Feudal government or Republic. Each warlord or government Islamic or Christian would get to keep their current power. Part of the agreement would be to "harmonize" trade laws, provide military aid to support the elimination of civil unrest, or foreign intrusion. Essentially, the whole thing would be about making trade possible and maintaining the power of the people/governments in power indefinitely. An added bonus of stability would be a decreased risk in the credit markets in these countries, allowing large amounts of capital to be available for industrializing the agriculture industry in Africa.

3. Use China and India as leverage against the West. Obviously the West can't have their interest curtailed by Africans forming their own economies. That would end up consuming more oil there, and less for the U.S, thus human rights violations in those oil rich countries would have to be stopped.

In order to prevent the activity of the U.S or other Western nations from invading, they could use China's military power, and China's debt leverage over the U.S, as a means of effectively making it suicidal to attack any African countries and keeping the U.S out of African affairs. Africa, in turn, would allow the Chinese, and not the U.S to be the ones to build up infrastructure and technology in Africa(in exchange for agrarian surplus and raw materials of course, as well as the right to use people in factories to produce goods for China, the same way the U.S did to the Chinese).

4. Last but not least, a zero tolerance policy for adulterers. Anyone caught being an adulterer, male or female, would be stoned to death, or brutally murdered some other way.

This way the flow of HIV would decrease, as the punishment for promisicuity would be death.


What do you think?

[emersonbiggins]

1. Use condoms.

2. GO TO 1

[biofuel13]

The Africa "problem" didn't even exist until Europeans and Americans started exploiting and colonizing Africa. If we want to solve the problems there it is actually quite simple:

1 Discourage capitalism and agriculture

2 Encourage a return to traditional tribal communities and culture

3 Leave them alone

For the first few decades things would be rough for them, but after a time their population would come back into balance and they could lead happy satisfying lives.

[Novus]

Ultimately that is probably the correct solution Biofuel13 but part of me wants them to damn up the Congo and lift the continent out its of its death spiral.

[mercurygirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('biofuel13', 'T')he Africa "problem" didn't even exist until Europeans and Americans started exploiting and colonizing Africa. If we want to solve the problems there it is actually quite simple:

1 Discourage capitalism and agriculture

2 Encourage a return to traditional tribal communities and culture

3 Leave them alone

For the first few decades things would be rough for them, but after a time their population would come back into balance and they could lead happy satisfying lives.

[biofuel13]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'U')ltimately that is probably the correct solution Biofuel13 but part of me wants them to damn up the Congo and lift the continent out its of its death spiral.

[biofuel13]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mercurygirl', '
')
Thank you for the most sane post ever.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '1'). Use condoms.

2. GO TO 1

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('biofuel13', 'T')he Africa "problem" didn't even exist until Europeans and Americans started exploiting and colonizing Africa. If we want to solve the problems there it is actually quite simple:

1 Discourage capitalism and agriculture

2 Encourage a return to traditional tribal communities and culture

3 Leave them alone

For the first few decades things would be rough for them, but after a time their population would come back into balance and they could lead happy satisfying lives.

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kylon', '
')

What do you think?