I have a better speech next time you barricade yourself in the BBC studios:
Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration - whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday - I thought we could mark this November the fifth, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.
There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?
Cruelty and injustice...intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance, coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told...if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.
I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War. Terror. Disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic, you turned to the New Labour party. They promised you order. They promised you peace. And all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.
Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago, a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words - they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek...then I ask you to stand beside me, one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament. And together, we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever, be forgot!
;o)
I recommend "The White Man's Burden" & "The Elusive Quest for Growth" by William Russell Easterly to anyone wanting to know more about aid.
As for how to develop poor countries, Hernando De Soto is unbeatable.
Question. If you put another $100 million dollars into Africa, what do you get?
Answer. Another hundred African millionaires.
Mind you, this is not all bad. Countries that run large current account deficits, like the UK, need loads of cash injected into their economies everyday by foreigners, otherwise the currency would collapse.
These African millionaires are supplying a significant part of that cash. After all, a large mansion in Surrey is a lot more difficult to nick, than a truck load of Krugerrands in a Zimbabwe car park.
When the aid recipients tell you that it's misplaced and misguided, the surely it's time to stop funding them?
We blow the whistle on professional beggars on our streets, surely this is no different?
You're right that the main beneficiaries of all this aid are the agencies.
Can I second the recommendation of William Easterly's White Man's Burden by Serf.
As an undergraduate I did an international development module and we were fed the Oxfam/DfID/Bono line on Aid. I was stupid enough to criticise Sachs in an essay on AID and my tutor tore into me. So much for academic's encouraging free thought.
The great economist Peter Bauer blew the lid off the aid scam 50 years ago. Quite why anyone now believes that - apart from emergency aid for famine, flood etc - aid benefits anyone except for the African kleptocrats and their hand-maidens (ie the NGO aid bureaucracies and "departments for international aid") in the West is a question for psychologists not economists.
Going back to your earlier discussion re. aid to India, I thought you might be interested in this bijou item from last week's NAO report on the British Council:
"..the 2006 Midsummer Night’s Dream tour of India, whilst well received by audiences, was almost entirely funded by public money (equivalent to some £20 per audience member), because efforts to raise sponsorship did not firmly commit the main sponsor in good time. "
I can't remember how much we paid towards your ticket in Stratford on Avon - was it more or less?
"So much for academic's encouraging free thought."
It's got to be the right thought, CHT...
You’ve probably seen this paper by Moeletsi Mbeki but just in case you haven’t, follow the link. (pdf).
Some time ago I set up a petition calling for the abolition of stae funding to charities and NGOs; I am glad to see the meme for this idea is going further than my petition (which 10 people signed!) did!
This is an important issue as our aid to these countries, such as Africa and India, are allowing gross injustices to be perpetuated - the EU would never get away with CAP subsidies or import tariffs if it was shown that our handouts from ourselves and via the EU are actually very counter productive. I think the writing is fast appearing on the wall for this way of thinking.
'The State of Africa' by Martin Meredith has an eye-opening stat: Number of African countries which have improved their GDP since independence?
1 - Botswana (the exception that proves the rule that all African countries are headig down). That is out of 53
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