"For God's sake, please stop the aid"

[Rollory]

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,363663,00.html

Puts a certain "ignorant well-meaning doofus" light on whatsisname (Geldof?) doing the Live 8 concert.

[Tim Partlett]

He exaggerates a bit, but I basically agree with him. We need to tie any aid we give to African nations to creating the proper infrastructure that will allow them to use it effectively, like Germany did after the war. Aid is often vital, but poorly considered aid can be as damaging as none at all. I still believe that more important than giving aid is to open up our markets so that these countries can compete fairly. To do that we must first start by getting rid of stupid and outdated protectionisms like the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.

[Hanzii]

It the age old problem.
It's also a great excuse for not helping people, that really have no say on which corrupt leader is messing up their country right now.

But it would be nice if the world made sense.
If we only gave aid where it helped the most. If we didn't allow corrupt leaders to steal aid. If we were as interested in democracy and good governance in Africa as in the Middle East and former Eastern Bloc. If we didn't with one hand make aids-medicine cheaper for African countries and with the other hand demand, that they stopped programs to prevent aids (ie giving out condoms) before they could recieve the cheap medicin...

[SpoofyChop]

This article is a stunning example of how counterintuitive things can be.

:?