Debt-relief foes in Congress have warned that the benefits of debt cancellation would never reach the poor. We found the opposite. In each country that we visited on this trip – Malawi, Uganda, Ghana – the government is pursuing a meticulous and transparent process to ensure that budgetary savings from debt relief are actually channeled into urgent social sectors. The problem is not waste or corruption, the problem is that the extent of help from the United States and Europe is so meager in the face of the enormous crisis.
A piece about AIDS in Africa by Bono’s current brother-in-arms, Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs. The piece goes on to mention a solo performance by Bono of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ in Malawi last February, during one of his fact-finding missions. (Thanks to our anonymous tipster)
I cited that exact article in a persuasive speech I gave yesterday. How about that.
I cited that exact article in a persuasive speech I gave yesterday. How about that.
No doubt Harvard produces fine writers as well as great mathematicians. The Propaganda in this article is very moving. However, the article fails to answer its own questions. The article fails to provide solutions and only vaguely portrays the problems. I’m sorry that the 3 countries visited (Malawi, Uganda, and Ghana) have lost millions of people to an untimely death due to an epidemic that is largely avoidable when necessary precautions are taken. However, I fail to see how blaming rich people and poverty has anything to do with the AIDS crisis. To me, I see only the miseducation of all those young Africans in how AIDS is transmitted. I see the lack of love shown by their own neighbors in their OWN NATION. How can an intelligent man like Jeffrey Sachs blame poverty for death when the lack of wealth was never the cause for death in this world at anytime and certainly not in this instance either. I think he should rethink his thesis and his assumptions along the lines of LACK OF LOVE. Not just by the rich countries but by the very intelligent and knowledgable and wealthy people IN Malawi, Uganda, and Ghana; the governments, institutions and superior authorities who have always had access to the knowledge of AIDS and its transmission but have failed to deal out this knowledge in a charitable and equitable way.
There are roughly 22 million people in Ghana alone. If 5,000 everyday are dying of aids in Ghana, it would take 12 years for the entire population to be annihilated by AIDS. That’s not taking into account the 500,000 babies being born every year in those 12 years which would raise the population to an extra 6 million by 2014. Thus, whatever financial aid that is being produced by the “first world” for the “third world” would never ever satisfy the populations and the population increase of these countries. Especially, if these countries are expecting 1,825,000 a year just for medicine for Uganda that is actually going toward India like the article stated it would be going to for the generic meds alone. Sachs is also avoiding the fact that most of these nations are politically unstable which means that at any time the money being filtered throught the “relief efforts” will find it’s way to also aiding the governments “war efforts” which has been the case in another suffering community in Africa; Ethiopa. Right now the money being filtered to India would likely be used in not just the developement of generic medications but also in the development of arms proliferation in India for use against Pakistan. Thus, the complicated matter of relief and the sad consequences to human life not just in the countries directly targeted but all the surrounding nations.
Since I am an American citizen, I feel I should also state that I have been living below the poverty line for all of my independent adult life. I pay my taxes. I follow the rule of law. I worship an almighty God. Out of all these three things, I have never blamed poverty, government or God for my personal problems. I have only thanked God for my salvation from EVIL whether that EVIL stem from terrorists, epidemics, weather, corrupt gov’ts, etc. etc. etc.
Thank you anonymous person for your link to the article.
No doubt Harvard produces fine writers as well as great mathematicians. The Propaganda in this article is very moving. However, the article fails to answer its own questions. The article fails to provide solutions and only vaguely portrays the problems. I’m sorry that the 3 countries visited (Malawi, Uganda, and Ghana) have lost millions of people to an untimely death due to an epidemic that is largely avoidable when necessary precautions are taken. However, I fail to see how blaming rich people and poverty has anything to do with the AIDS crisis. To me, I see only the miseducation of all those young Africans in how AIDS is transmitted. I see the lack of love shown by their own neighbors in their OWN NATION. How can an intelligent man like Jeffrey Sachs blame poverty for death when the lack of wealth was never the cause for death in this world at anytime and certainly not in this instance either. I think he should rethink his thesis and his assumptions along the lines of LACK OF LOVE. Not just by the rich countries but by the very intelligent and knowledgable and wealthy people IN Malawi, Uganda, and Ghana; the governments, institutions and superior authorities who have always had access to the knowledge of AIDS and its transmission but have failed to deal out this knowledge in a charitable and equitable way.
There are roughly 22 million people in Ghana alone. If 5,000 everyday are dying of aids in Ghana, it would take 12 years for the entire population to be annihilated by AIDS. That’s not taking into account the 500,000 babies being born every year in those 12 years which would raise the population to an extra 6 million by 2014. Thus, whatever financial aid that is being produced by the “first world” for the “third world” would never ever satisfy the populations and the population increase of these countries. Especially, if these countries are expecting 1,825,000 a year just for medicine for Uganda that is actually going toward India like the article stated it would be going to for the generic meds alone. Sachs is also avoiding the fact that most of these nations are politically unstable which means that at any time the money being filtered throught the “relief efforts” will find it’s way to also aiding the governments “war efforts” which has been the case in another suffering community in Africa; Ethiopa. Right now the money being filtered to India would likely be used in not just the developement of generic medications but also in the development of arms proliferation in India for use against Pakistan. Thus, the complicated matter of relief and the sad consequences to human life not just in the countries directly targeted but all the surrounding nations.
Since I am an American citizen, I feel I should also state that I have been living below the poverty line for all of my independent adult life. I pay my taxes. I follow the rule of law. I worship an almighty God. Out of all these three things, I have never blamed poverty, government or God for my personal problems. I have only thanked God for my salvation from EVIL whether that EVIL stem from terrorists, epidemics, weather, corrupt gov’ts, etc. etc. etc.
Thank you anonymous person for your link to the article.
karaoke, it
karaoke, it
What is in the mind of the “politicians of rich industrial nations”?????
You’re looking in the wrong place for solutions if you go to “politicians of rich industrial nations” or Harvard professors or even…dare I say it…the majority of religious leaders in ANY community on earth.
Thanks for raising your points.
What is in the mind of the “politicians of rich industrial nations”?????
You’re looking in the wrong place for solutions if you go to “politicians of rich industrial nations” or Harvard professors or even…dare I say it…the majority of religious leaders in ANY community on earth.
Thanks for raising your points.
Then where the hell DO you look for answers, Karaoke? I’m not sure where this grudge of yours stems from, but I suggest you go here:
http://www.cmhealth.org/
and learn about Sachs’ recent Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Prof Sachs is right on, and I appreciate Bono giving him a voice.
Then where the hell DO you look for answers, Karaoke? I’m not sure where this grudge of yours stems from, but I suggest you go here:
http://www.cmhealth.org/
and learn about Sachs’ recent Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Prof Sachs is right on, and I appreciate Bono giving him a voice.
Excuse me Greg, I do not have a grug against anyone who genually wants to help anybody. Have you ever had a paper critiqued? It’s a humbling experience.
Thanks for the link…it was very insightful. I can’t wait to read the papers expected for this summer. Where can I read the reports from:
J. Sachs (Chairman of CMH), CID/John F Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, USA
A. Tait (Co-chair), Camden House, Sandwich, UK
K. Botchwey (Co-chair), CID/John F Kennedy School of Government Cambridge, USA
D. Arhin-Tenkorang, CID/John F Kennedy School of Government Cambridge, USA
G. Carrin, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
S. Gupta, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., USA
P. Heller, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, USA
W.C.L. Hsiao, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
R. Khalaf, Amman, Jordan
R. Misra, Gurgaon, India
A. Mukul, Singapore
A Preker, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
G. Schieber, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
I would like to read them unedited if possible.
Excuse me Greg, I do not have a grug against anyone who genually wants to help anybody. Have you ever had a paper critiqued? It’s a humbling experience.
Thanks for the link…it was very insightful. I can’t wait to read the papers expected for this summer. Where can I read the reports from:
J. Sachs (Chairman of CMH), CID/John F Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, USA
A. Tait (Co-chair), Camden House, Sandwich, UK
K. Botchwey (Co-chair), CID/John F Kennedy School of Government Cambridge, USA
D. Arhin-Tenkorang, CID/John F Kennedy School of Government Cambridge, USA
G. Carrin, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
S. Gupta, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., USA
P. Heller, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, USA
W.C.L. Hsiao, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
R. Khalaf, Amman, Jordan
R. Misra, Gurgaon, India
A. Mukul, Singapore
A Preker, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
G. Schieber, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
I would like to read them unedited if possible.
Karaoke: I’m not sure what your question is. The 210 page report is available in its entirety on the site (http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidcmh/CMHReport.pdf), as are each of the working group papers from which information for the final paper was culled.
Karaoke: I’m not sure what your question is. The 210 page report is available in its entirety on the site (http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidcmh/CMHReport.pdf), as are each of the working group papers from which information for the final paper was culled.
Since I was the original anonymous tipster for this article I thought I would chime in my 2 cents. I work on the African Affairs Task Force at my church but it was my interest in these issues that brought me to the task force. We are trying to get our youth groups involved in a social action project that works to decreasing the rate of AIDS infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. I think love and compassion in the end is what ultimately solves this problem. Without love and compassion for our brothers and sisters in this world these problems will continue. However, money from the developed world is necessary in my opinion to deal with AIDS in Africa. Bono and Sachs both talk about “transparent” aid. This means that in order to get the money, the rest of the world can see where it goes from beginning to end. This is supposed to help with the problem of corruption in African governments plus it’s the only way to convince countries to give more money. I don’t think it is productive to try to place blame for the current conditions. Throw a rock in the air and your bound to hit someone guilty. It’s the response I’m concerned about. It’s a very complicated issue…AIDS in Africa (and maybe worse conditions around the corner for Asia). Education and prevention has to be a huge part of any relief effort. Cultural differences and attitudes have to be addressed. For example, the stigma of AIDS brings isolation, life expectancy of 40 years of age leads to a “WhyBother?” attitude toward condom use. Poverty leads to commercial sex which of course leads to the increased spread of AIDS. Rural communities are especially hard hit. There is also a big problem with the transference of cultural and generational knowledge. Of course, prevention is a huge part of this but we also need to care for those infected with AIDS and those institutional systems and families and orphans and communities that are affected by this pandemic. So in the end, placing blame gets us nowhere except to falsely believe that any of us did not contribute to this situation or will not be effected by this situation. We are all connected.
Since I was the original anonymous tipster for this article I thought I would chime in my 2 cents. I work on the African Affairs Task Force at my church but it was my interest in these issues that brought me to the task force. We are trying to get our youth groups involved in a social action project that works to decreasing the rate of AIDS infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. I think love and compassion in the end is what ultimately solves this problem. Without love and compassion for our brothers and sisters in this world these problems will continue. However, money from the developed world is necessary in my opinion to deal with AIDS in Africa. Bono and Sachs both talk about “transparent” aid. This means that in order to get the money, the rest of the world can see where it goes from beginning to end. This is supposed to help with the problem of corruption in African governments plus it’s the only way to convince countries to give more money. I don’t think it is productive to try to place blame for the current conditions. Throw a rock in the air and your bound to hit someone guilty. It’s the response I’m concerned about. It’s a very complicated issue…AIDS in Africa (and maybe worse conditions around the corner for Asia). Education and prevention has to be a huge part of any relief effort. Cultural differences and attitudes have to be addressed. For example, the stigma of AIDS brings isolation, life expectancy of 40 years of age leads to a “WhyBother?” attitude toward condom use. Poverty leads to commercial sex which of course leads to the increased spread of AIDS. Rural communities are especially hard hit. There is also a big problem with the transference of cultural and generational knowledge. Of course, prevention is a huge part of this but we also need to care for those infected with AIDS and those institutional systems and families and orphans and communities that are affected by this pandemic. So in the end, placing blame gets us nowhere except to falsely believe that any of us did not contribute to this situation or will not be effected by this situation. We are all connected.