Feel Good TV?
Africa’s a continent. Not a crisis.
I’ve had mixed feelings watching the build up the Live 8 concert today. I think it’s great to bring people together to care but I also feel strongly that solution that isn’t being talked about enough is good government prodded (and demanded by) a growing and thriving business sector. One that needs stable rules, limited corruption and peace. This article from Ethan Zuckerman caught my eye - an excerpt…
“Aid dollars don’t eliminate poverty - integration into a global economy does. (South Korea and Ghana had approximately the same per capita income when Ghana gained independence in 1957. South Korea’s income per capita has increased roughly fifteen times in constant dollar terms, while Ghana’s has fallen slightly. You may notice that we buy a great deal more from South Korea than we do from Ghana.) If the goal of Live 8 were to help people see the African continent as a place they want to visit, a place they want to open businesses in, a place they want to engage with, as opposed to a place they want to save, I’d be more likely to share Brian’s hopes.
But that would be a very different concert. It would be one that celebrated the cultural richness of the continent by putting African artists on stage, rather than inviting them - after Geldof was shamed by Peter Gabriel - to perform at a parallel event a hundred miles away from the main action. It would be one that put African leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators on stage, rather than using a silent young Ethiopian woman as a stage prop for Madonna and Geldof. It would be one that was more focused on changing the global image of Africa than on somehow changing the minds of the eight guys sitting around a table in Scotland.”
Oddly enough I think the politicians at the G8 probably know this more than those attending the concerts. There’s many sides (and opportunities) in globalization that can’t be talked about because of a knee jerk opposition to it in the prosperous west.