Not many people realise that developing countries have an extremely large burden of debt. This came about because of loans from developed, Western countries. These loans were meant, on paper, to help these developing countries progress. However, they were double-edged. They also had significant interest rates, therefore the interest repayments could only be kept up if the country's economy was in a stage of growth all the time. There were various problems, however, culminating in the 1984 Debt Crisis. On this occasion, Mexico led the way by proclaiming a moratorium on debt repayments.....although by then all they could hope to repay were part of the accumulated interests.
Many developing countries all over the globe, from Asia to South America, have massive debts. They devote great portions of their GDPs to repay the accumulated interests, and are therefore hindered in their own development because a lot of their economic resources are being drained by the repayments. Developed countries thus receive a healthy (!) income from this continuous bleeding off of economic resources from the Third World. Look at America, at Great Britain. Look and wonder: maybe what greatness we apparently see in these countries is actually based on the blood and toil of billions of less well off people.
Jubilee 2000 aims to induce developed countries to significantly reduce or erase Third World Debt. For this reason it held a demonstration in Birmingham in May 1998, while the G8 summit was being held. No luck. Blair grinned, as usual, and pronounced some soothing but unconclusive words. The other leaders slunk away silently. Th 50 000 protesters went back to their homes discouraged.
It is up to the common person to realise that it is wrong to live off other people: we are the pimps forcing the Third World to prostitute itself. Do not let this happen. Talk about it. Think about it the next time you vote. Is debt cancellation on your party's agenda? I sincerely hope so. And so does that little boy on the street in Rio de Janeiro.
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Under construction - as an aperitif let me tell you that this site is not particularly in favour of univ fees...
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The link to the MrNice web site below does not mean that the owner of this site condones the smoking or taking of illegal substances, whatever medical or other opinions may be regarding these substances. However, it IS a fun site, especially the Howard Marks smuggling game. Also, check out the let's say altenative Windows wallpaper on offer....A few tips on playing the smuggling game: as soon as you get a cop message, change location. When you have gone thorugh all the locations, change identity. Only buy stuff in the �50 - �450 price range. Anything else you wont' be able to sell at a profit.
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