African Poverty

I was always a fan of thinking big.

..and when I say big I mean huge. Some people are intimidated and frustrated by large problems, they complain that the never seem to get solved.

This degenerates into the oh-so-annoying defeatist attitude that they will never be solved. Past performance as ultimate indicator of future results and all that jazz.

To this I say ":P"

What am I talking about now?

Why, the Millennium Plan of course!

The main message is that extreme poverty on our planet, which threatens us by causing instability, disease, causes millions of people to suffer and die unnecessarily, can be brought to a close by our generation. And the Millennium development goals, which are goals to cut by half that extreme poverty by the year 2015, are achievable. But we're not on course to achieve these goals right now. We can get on course through modest steps on our part, coupled with a partnership with the poorest places in the world.
Before I do that, I should say the biggest gap in our country is the gap in perception, because Americans are generous. You see how they responded to the tsunami. But they think we do twenty to thirty times more in development aid than we actually do. So right now, the rich world on average gives about 25 cents out of every $100 of rich world income to help the poor countries. In the United States, it's just 15 cents out of every $100 of our income. What we calculate to be needed is on the order of about 50 cents per every $100 of income

.

A point-blank end to extreme poverty, now that's a big idea. One that most people in principle could get behind. The question is: Will nations agree to give up the cash to help others in return for enormous long-term gains?

Defeatism, as usual, is progress' greatest foe. It is common knowledge (and we know what I think of that) that Africa can never be brought out of poverty with increased assistance.

Aww, quit being a party pooper and read the report. Love to hear what you think, I'll follow up on this topic soon.
Millennium Plan Website