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HELP OR DEBATE? - Here is a universal truth: young children don't know much about politics. Here is another one: most politicians don't, either. Without mentioning Elian Gonzalez, I wish to concentrate on the former group, the latter one is a lost cause.
There are many of them on the verge of death in the horn of Africa at the moment. Altogether, 16 million people are risking starvation, and as Catherine Bertini, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy said, "the international community has a rare opportunity to prevent a famine." Normally aid comes pouring in too late, after CNN, the BBC and the Western press have decided to make an issue out of it. This year there appears to be little difference, except that there may be fewer goods provided than normal.
The problem this time is that many people feel that the Africans are not helping themselves first. The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments could help their people instead of spending vast sums of money on killing each other. Why should the West help Kenyan people when their government is refusing to distribute the wealth more evenly? Was aid given in the 1980's used to fund corrupt regimes?
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Yet this is not just a plea for aid. As the situation in Africa worsens, a trial in Norwich, England has developed. 28 men and women are set to dodge punishment for their part in genetically modified (GM) crops sabotage. They do not want to be used as guinea pigs for potentially unsafe and unnecessary experiments, as super large fish and tomatoes are not required in a country like Britain awash with food.
There was an old saying from the 80's regarding Africa. "Give a man a fish and he can feed his family for a day, give him the instruments to fish and he can feed his family for life." Perhaps it should now be, "give a man a genetically modified fish and he can feed his family for several days, give him the instruments and that's the end of Third World hunger."
There are ethical considerations about using anyone as guinea pigs. But if you saw, like I did, the young boy whose bones were sticking out of his skin, trying to muster up enough energy to scream in pain but still fail, whose mother looked on helplessly, then you would surely think that the most important thing to do is feed him now. Then we could worry about politics, ethics, economics and war.
Cheers, happy holiday
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