Africa ....

Tiassa

Tiassa

Let us not launch the boat ...
Valued Senior Member
Representatives from more than 50 African nations the 15 European Union members entered their second day of talks in Cairo on Tuesday, with human rights and good governance on the agenda, as well as a draft "plan of action" bringing together a range of economic measures.

The tone of the gathering was set on Monday, when Romani Prodi, the president of the European Commission, said in his opening speech that the plight of Africa was essentially Europe's problem, not that of the US or other powers, because of past links and proximity.
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From the London Financial Times ( http://www.ft.com ), April 4, 2000.

I have added the boldface for emphasis.

There's not much to say at this point, except, "Who's got an opinion?"

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)
 
Okay, so I'm getting to work this morning and I pause outside the newsboxes to read headlines and finish my smoke. And then I read this quote from Prodi in the capsules on the front page of the Financial Times. I stand up, turn to walk toward my office, and freeze. I remember the physical perspective clearly.

I think, "Damn! Did I just read what I thought I read?" And so I turn and read the capsule again. As I stand up, I'm trying to figure out why this sounds so strange.

And then it hits me: Past links. And I remember that physical perspective clearly at that moment, as well. It was the same as before but the daylight had changed just so.

I don't get it: Why the heck did this grab me with that sense of urgency that I only feel before wars? Not the fear and darkness of war, but that sense that when the dust settles, things won't be quite the same? And why does it make me smile so much? Is it because I don't think any American would ever, in a million years of Imperialist Glory, conceive that such a sentence was possible, much less utter it?

Certes, the future alone knows the success or failure of such initiative, but I'm thoroughly amused that someone is thinking this way.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)
 
Well, not to sound like an imperialist or anything, I don't think it's entirely correct to think of the world's problems as Europe's problems. If you take that line of thought far enough, then actually you'd have to concede that the problems are ultimately Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or Indian -- since those were the wellsprings from which modern civilization eventually arose in the first place. No doubt, Europe ought to take a much more active role in the world at large -- but I don't think that such involvement ought to come at the cost of American withdrawal. We, imperialist or not, are a major economic and industrial powerhouse on this planet -- and in an increasingly globalized economy we the Americans have vested interest in establishing and maintaining economic stability (which means lack of war), as well as prosperity (which means more consumers) throughout the world. Besides purely selfish reasons, it is also acceptable for us to at least attempt to spread the wealth -- to be a good samaritan, if nothing else.

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I am; therefore I think.
 
I couldn't track down the story through your URL; otherwise, I would have commented on it. What's the concern here? Europe is taking the initiative?

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It's all very large.
 
Boris--

I wouldn't say that the world's problems are Europe's problems, but the fact that someone is willing to acknowledge that the efforts which raised their own standard of living might have damaged that of another, and the expressed willingness to address the difficulties which Euro-African interaction has encountered, is a remarkably refreshing sentiment.

I mean, if Americans would at least try to understand this kind of thinking in any mass-applicable sense ... well, the world would be a lot better off.

I look to this as an example. The way I figure it, the city looked different in that moment because I have never heard of this kind of necessary-sense political stand.

Even if the EU accepts responsibility simply so that someone does, it's better than the farce I recall from my childhood, when relief was conditional on the song's sales. :)

Incidentally, I love that logical line of tracing responsibility for human tragedy. The only thing I ask of such processes now is: "When are the responsible aware of their responsibility?" We might look at an event in history and say: these people could not have been aware of the tragic potential of their actions, for nothing like this had been done before. But when we look a few generations down the line and the same senseless dance is playing out in a different key, can we not target the participants and ask them if they have learned nothing from the precedents of history?

For instance: I, personally, am ambivalent about NATO actions against the Serbs. I am all for human rights, but I seem to recall a washed-out heavy-metal band releasing an album that practically begged for intervention in that situation in the first half of the 1990's. Have we not learned from previous campaigns where "Holocausts", "Ethnic cleansings", and other massacres have occurred that it's okay to make sure the reports are true, but how many years does that really take?

So in this case, I'm just happy that somebody actually is stepping up to address the state of things in Africa. It beats one response I heard this morning for sure: "Why? What's wrong in Africa?"

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)
 
Bowser--

Sorry 'bout the link. I always have trouble tracking stories at FT-dotcom.

But yeah, I think it's cool someone's stepping up. I mentioned people at my office in my post to Boris. Suffice it to say that of the morning smoking circle, at least two thought Lionel Richie had fixed the famine and had no idea there was a problem in Africa, except for all the terrorists. Or something like that. Sometimes I swear I don't hear those things right, because they sound too dumb for Natural Selection. ;)

You know ... I hadn't thought to pay any attention to American media. I've generally lost faith in them over important things.

I suppose that part of my enthusiasm comes from the notion I hold that the world can only progress so far before it has to stop and put together the mess it's made in Africa and parts of Asia and Central America.

But that's just li'l ol' me ...

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)
 
As the first European to enter this discussion I would like to remember you guys to the famous Monroe doctrine : America (meaning the continent and more specifically Latin America) is for the Americans (meaning the United States). This was regarded at the time to the Europeans as in saying : hands of guys this is our back yard, you stay in Africa !
Thus the historical link. I think we both managed to screw things up pretty good in our respective back yards and turning then into the backward countries they are now. This mea culpa was the reason of Prodi's opening speech I think. A second reason, and this might be even a bigger one in bringing the countries of Europe together, we need a single purpose : cleaning up our mess we made in Africa is not only the moral thing to do but also the most sensible thing to do.
Interference of the U.S. in this regard would simply complicate things and further divide Europe into supporters of this interference and decliners.

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"If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants."
Isaac Newton
 
Plato--

Forgive the cliche, but you've hit the nail on the head.

Largely, I'm surprised that the powers-that-be in any first-world organization are capable of making this progression. It's encouraging, in that sense.

I'm generally opposed to various forms of international interference, but the one thing that's clear is that the human race has an obligation to itself to heal these damaged geographic and demographic zones. Otherwise, even if we do make it off the planet someday, we'll still be fighting over real estate, and causing the same sort of problems we see in Africa and Latin America. (Venusian terraforming crew revolt! Holo-film at eleventeen!)

I was wondering though, since within a day of Prodi's statements the EC was denying reports of a movement to oust the President ... what's up with that? Most people in the US think Romani Prodi's an MTV Buzzclip; is it just the Africa comments that have people flustered or is there more to the story?

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)
 
tiassa,

I don't think you should search to much for a sudden development of altruition and moral in the change of attitude of the first world countries to the third world. A lot has to do with the changing global economy, countries are getting more and more interdependent of each other and leaving 70% of the world in poverty will eventually slow down the buzzing economies of the first world. But if they are handling because of selfish reasons or because of true intentions the result is what matters.

However the conquer of the other planets in our solar system is nothing like we have seen before and will probably result in a whole range of new problems that we can't even forsee right now. The closes thing is the conquer of the 'New World' but without the elimination of the native people because there are none (at least so far as we know ;) )

About the reports of ousting Prodi, this is the first time I hear from it, could you perhaps give a link to the news story ?


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"If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants."
Isaac Newton
 
Plato--

If I choose not to respond to the primary bulk of your text, please accept that it is because I agree closely enough that I might be inventing issues to wave recklessly around.

My original source on the Prodi resignation rumors, though, came from the Financial Times; unfortunately, my habit involves surveying the headlines on the way into the office, and then chasing down the stories at the website, ft.com.

But I have some difficulty keeping track of ft.com's stories, so a CNN-link:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/04/04/bc.europe.commission.prodi.reut/

thanx much,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)
 
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