Dangerous Pity<\/strong><\/p>\n “The millions donated to Ethiopia in 1985 thanks to Live Aid were supposed to go towards relieving a natural disaster. In reality, donors became participants in a civil war. Many lives were saved, but even more may have been lost in Live Aid’s unwitting support of a Stalinist-style resettlement project.”<\/p>\n David Rieff<\/a><\/p>\n G8 Coverage: UK<\/a> | Scotland<\/a><\/p>\n Tony Blair picks up Africa and the environment whenever he wants to hint at a latent radicalism. It’s like the way he used his opposition to foxhunting to curry favour with the radicals on his backbenches. It is a way of being left wing without being on the left. Nothing is going to happen on global warming in Blair’s political lifetime, so it is safe to mouth platitudes about how the world needs to take seriously the problems and act.<\/p>\n Africa is similar. Tossing a coin in the beggar’s hat makes you feel good, and a politician doing the same can curry moral favour with an electorate which wants to feel a warm glow of concern. Let’s face it, Make Poverty History is more about salving the conscience of the British middle classes than about saving the destitute of Africa. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile, or that the people marching yesterday are insincere. I was one of them. It’s better to have a conscience than not have one, and there is evidence demonstrations do make a difference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Q: How do you turn the G8 into a riot? A: Ban the protests, stupid<\/strong><\/p>\n There are other continents where people have taken their destiny in their own hands. Latin America, which in the words of its poet-philosopher Eduardo Galeano, “was born into independent life mortgaged to British banks”. Two centuries later, as a Montevideo taxi driver puts it: “They say the Lord will provide. They think God runs the IMF.”<\/p>\n This Latin America is today in revolt against social engineers of the IMF and other US subsidiaries. In Venezuela, the Bolivarian movement has won power through the ballot box and three US attempts to impose regime-change have been defeated. In Bolivia there is a semi-permanent insurrection by indigenous peoples against privatisations. They have demanded a constitution that protects their lands and their mineral wealth from the corporate looters. And there are signs that many Africans are watching closely.<\/p>\n A friend just back from Ethiopia wrote me a few days ago: “Trip was amazing. Demonstrations prior to election day number two million in Addis. Then, on the day itself, rural people lined up for miles to vote. When the government and the opposition both claimed victory the next day, all hell broke lose. No gasoline, banks closed, and a state of emergency declared. None of it reported in the press, of course. I got out on a KLM flight after passing through three military checkpoints ” <\/p>\n And that is how real change will come, with people fighting for their democratic rights and losing their fear of the elites who govern them. The north wants the states in the south to reduce their functions to surveillance and punishment. Leave everything else to the market. The Latin American continent is saying “no”. When Africa does the same, it will begin to move forward, too. These are the noises that northern politicians do not like to hear. That is why making sure they hear them is crucial on July 6.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 19 June 2005<\/a> “Twenty years ago, there was such a salve and Band Aid was appropriately named. Nobody doubts the intentions of all the millions who donated to the cause and, hopefully they did good. But even the rock stars saw that, despite … Continue reading
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\nSit down and sing along<\/a>
\n<\/center>Can we trust him<\/a>? Analysis: By Iain Macwhirter<\/p>\n
\nTariq Ali<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"