I heard about the Live 8 concerts recently on the radio about how they want to eradicate the 3rd world debt so that the impoversished people of Africa, Asia, and South America will instantly flourish into the industrial neighbors if only the greedy capitalists would stop forcing them down. You may already be able to see my slant on this item, but this stuff has happened before, and what has happened when we forgave the debt... ... ... nothing. Nothing at all. For those who don't remember, and I have no first hand experience, we tried this around twenty years ago, and nothing happened. The same problems will arise again and again because of one underlying problem, the governments of these countries are corrupt and don't care about the people, so therefore relieving debt that they don't pay doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

One would never know it from their website. They mention often that rich countries must pay NOW, if they don't pay, all these children will starve, and please, WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN. I particularly enjoyed their statement that we should stop forcing these countries to trade with the rich countries. I almost couldn't believe it when I read it. Isolationism is not the answer that we are seeking to help these countries. But I guess if we throw enough money on their doorstep then we don't have to feel guilty when we see who's picking it up.

Further, we need to stop subsidizing our farmers and subsidize "their" farmers, so that will allow the poor countries to feed themselves. That way our farmers and people can starve as well, but let's look at it a little closer. Europe and the United States have some of the most efficient farming operations in the world, however, if some of these subsidies no longer exist, there is less incentive to farm, since crazily enough, people need money to survive in this world. While it may then be true that there may be more farmers in the 3rd world countries, but they are ultimately less efficient than their 1st world brethren. While I am not saying this is the wrong solution, what I'm saying is that there is no conclusive evidence on their website to back up their claims, and give little indication on how I can further my knowledge of this very important issue.

The problem with activists is the same problem with religions, it requires large amounts of faith. Faith that change will be a good thing and that we should trust our minds to our superiors. We are but sheep following the shepard. I of course won't venture by saying that they are mostly anti-consumerists, but that is a rant for another day.

These are a bunch of people who want to ACT, but don't know the consequences of their actions. These are the scariest types of people in the world, because if there are enough of them, sometimes they are actually heard.

-Trevor