"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"
The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.
SPIEGEL:Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...
Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.
SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.
Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.
To continue reading the interview, go here.There's something to that old proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." When it comes to fighting poverty simply throwing money at the situation can do more harm than good. We see this in Africa with generic "aid" and the loads of money being spent on "AIDS." Instead of creating a higher standard of living, these programs are creating a society split between a corrupt upper class and a deeply impoverished and dependent lower class.
Here in America, we're on the same track with welfare and food stamps. These programs were intended to be temporarily help people get back on their feet. But today they are abused by people who think they have a right to receive support for doing nothing. And our government is more than willing to offer that support, even increase it.
Recently 4 lawmakers took a "Food Stamp Challenge." They were to live for a week off the $21 the government gives to those who participate in the food stamp program. Not surprisingly, that budget afforded only a little unhealthy food. So what should be done about this problem? According to Rep. Jan Schakowsky, we need to increase the amount of money each family receives. Watch her recent interview on the Colbert Report.
The answer should be to help people get off of food stamps and support themselves. If anything, the government should be in the business of empowering people to be independent and self-sufficient. People who spend their lives depending on what's given to them have no opportunity to better their lives. The only way that can happen is if more stuff is given to them (usually at the expense of people who actually earned what they have). Individuals who work for their livings develop opportunities to better their lives, not to mention virtuous qualities such as discipline and respect.
Most of the aid and welfare systems in place are actually systems of oppression, systems that relegate people to lives of poverty. If we truly want to help the poor, "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!" Instead, teach them to fish.