NEWS: G8 To Cancel 100% Of Debt Owed By Poor Nations

The G8 has decided to write off 100% of debt owed by 18 poor nations as a head start to fight poverty in the world. The estimated total debt canceled will be 40 billion dollars. This will save the countires, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, a total of 1.5 billion dollars a year in debt repayments and allow much needed relief to the people in poverty.



This is a much needed good deed for the world indeed. The industrialized world has finally decided to take a real initiative to curb the poverty in the world. Hopefully this will pave the way for development and stability in the African continent as well as other nations across the world.

Combined with the NATO support to the African Union in Sudan, it appears the developed world is taking further steps, although small in scale at present time, to end poverty and misery in the world. Now if we could just revise the U.N. a bit we could see the foundations of a new world.

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It has begun.

And a slippery slope that we find ourselves on, once we start cancelling debt, don't we.

Just agree to this, this, and this, sign here, and poof, no more debt!

We promise, we didn't replace your handcuffs with chains, honest. Debt relief will become a major point of conflict, and the whole time, no one will realize we DON'T NEED the financial institutions to 'forgive' us!

Let's just hope we don't lend them any more money for any reason whatsoever after this.

The Ideal goal for society and the world would be to eliminate any form of monetary currency and simply revert to a global unity of shared resources. Aim for a population educated enough to not be consumed by material possesions, and possess the will to gain knowledge and explore the universe. Maybe another hundred or so years and well be about half way there.

[edit on 6/11/2005 by DYepes]

What a big laugh they make it look like they "the governments and banks" will pay off the debt and that is not the case. Guess who will pay for this debt relief? You guessed it the average person, at least in part. Great sneaky way to get a new tax passed huh?

Air ticket tax to help cover African debt

[edit on 6/11/2005 by shots]

It was Bad Debt anyway(There was really no way in hell those sub-saharan countries were gonna pay it off ever), forgive and forget about them until they start climbing the economic food-chain(eg No more handouts, let them climb out of the hole themselves, now they have no excuses).

I'm not so thrilled with the new air tax though but since that will only really effect vacationers and business travellers it could mark the start of a new trend of tele-confrencing(For the Business Folks and the Vacationers might start to Vacation closer to home thusly propping up local economies etc). Debt relief worked wonders for Brazil, Poland and China. I see no reason to doubt it will have a similiar effect in this case.

When are they going to cancel OUR debt? We've got enough of it to float a battleship, and no relief in sight ...

Just higher taxes when the crap hits the fan.

well they might well write off these debts, they were never going to get paid anyways. The only issue I have with these african aid plans is that while these countries do need a boost to get their people out of poverty, they also need an eye focused on them and their actions now, don't just write off the debt and let them be, force them to better their peoples. The problem is that, most of us don't care enough to show an interest, I mean millions have died and half of America isn't even aware.

Ending poverty can really solve alot of issues, people tend to forget the basics that a hungry man is an angry man. Feed the people, get them out of poverty and less war and strife will be upon this planet.

Well thats a different situation, things didn't have to become this bad for the USA you know, but the combination of 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Trade Deficit you're politicians dug the hole you guys are currently in.

And plus America doesn't exactly have hordes of Malnurished ,Impoverished and Aid's stricken populaces either... selfishness will not get you guys anywhere other then making the World hate and resent you guys more then they already do




[edit on 11-6-2005 by sardion2000]

The debt cancellation of several African nations by G8 powers is really a massive trade-off: in exchange for debt cancellation, several African nations would have to give up their resources, pools of labor, monetary and economic systems to the G8 powers.

Africa, the final frontier of cheap labor and outsourced jobs.

If all they [the nations that had debt cancelled] have to do is try and stop corruption and get the government going properly (what I understood from the bbc article), this looks pretty good for the poor nations.

The Ideal goal for society and the world would be to eliminate any form of monetary currency and simply revert to a global unity of shared resources. Aim for a population educated enough to not be consumed by material possesions, and possess the will to gain knowledge and explore the universe. Maybe another hundred or so years and well be about half way there.

I agree with that goal, and the estimate of the time it will take to od so.

I thinbk its good that there cancelling these nations debt, hopefuly they will become better, and be able to abolish, for the most part, the poverty in there countries.

And plus America doesn't exactly have hordes of Malnurished ,Impoverished and Aid's stricken populaces either...

Well there not AID's stricken, but we do have lots of homeless people.

Posted by: the_oleneo
On: Sat June, 11 2005 @ 16:22 GMT
The debt cancellation of several African nations by G8 powers is really a massive trade-off: in exchange for debt cancellation, several African nations would have to give up their resources, pools of labor, monetary and economic systems to the G8 powers.

Africa, the final frontier of cheap labor and outsourced jobs.

It is unfortunate to see your lack of faith in good deeds. Of course it would appear suspicious to you when the eight greatest industrialized nations agree to do something good for the poor for nothing in exchange, but if you have no factual source to back up your claims then they are simpy your opinions.

$40 billion split amongst the eight greatest nations is about the equivelant to what you and your family carry in your wallet on a daily basis. Obviously the world bank and IMF have plenty of money in their coffers and already probably sucked out three times that amount in interest from these poor nations throughout the years. Instead the member nations are coming up with a few tricky fees and taxes on small little things. It probably won't kill anyone but the assholes in charge still get their money not to menton the three times over they have already been paid in interest for nothing at all.

I came up with another idea to fight the current system in the world. Arrange large groups of people to launch assault on as many banks as possible but instead of stealing the money in their vaults, destroy it all. Burn all the paper you can, the coinage would be harder to destroy but it wouldnt be a priority. See money is what keeps people in check. As long as the belief that humans need money to exist or for society to be stable there will always be slaves and there will always be people strugling their whole lives only to get nowhere. If the money doesn't exist, what reason would anyone have to listen to what someone else wants of them?

The trick into fixing the world is to alter humanitys desire out of life from having money and power, to the desire to seek knowledge, inner peace, and justice for all. Hey if you think it cant be done guess again. The Native Americans lived quite awhile before the Eastern people came and introduced greed. They shared and traded resources. With technology today we can share and trade reasources enough so that no human in the world would have to know real suffering.

At present the worlds adult population will mostly be unable to make any kind of change in our time. We have to start with our children. Teach your kids MANNERS number one. But also teach them that money IS in fact the cause of suffering and evil and that the goal in their lifetime will be to eliminate the thought that money is needed in the world in order for humanity to survive. If we teach our kids to be brave they will have the courage to push for change , and take forceful action if the leaders do not listen. It is the just thing to die for a good cause. And that cause is global unity. The fear of death is why there will never be a revolution in this country in our generation.

Sorry for rambling on. Back on topic. What these nations need now is for sincere leaders to take the increased revenue they will have from the debt write-off and invest it heaviest in education. Honestly I would put education as a priority above infrastructure. For instance while water treatment facilities re in construction teach communities how to build their own water treatments taking into consideration natures natural cycle of filtration. OR on an even better scale, what better way to beta test individual home water filtration systems and clean energy by mandating and giving grants to new home builders for solar energy and collecting water. There are just too many possibilities.

Originally posted by DYepes

At present the worlds adult population will mostly be unable to make any kind of change in our time. We have to start with our children. Teach your kids MANNERS number one. But also teach them that money IS in fact the cause of suffering and evil and that the goal in their lifetime will be to eliminate the thought that money is needed in the world in order for humanity to survive. If we teach our kids to be brave they will have the courage to push for change , and take forceful action if the leaders do not listen. It is the just thing to die for a good cause. And that cause is global unity. The fear of death is why there will never be a revolution in this country in our generation.

That's quite profound. Honestly. This paragraph may change the way I plan on raising my children. You deserve my WATS vote for that!

Anyway, this is a step in the right direction. By cancelling debt in the big (governmental) box, the stones are being laid for international debt cancelling and of course, an end to poverty. I NEVER thought I would say this, but everyone should be following this example set by government.

It's pretty clear that the action is a bit of good business wrapped in a cellophane of altruism.

Call me cynical, but it was a bad debt, as has been said. Under the current system, there was no way for the nations named to pay the debt, cancelling the debt helps the 'altruistic' nations the most because it increases their credit eligibility, and preserves their good rating.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it certainly won't bring any sort of massive, positive change. The places named are the way they are for a reason. Most of Africa has been a blasted wasteland for thousands of years, ever since the rift destroyed the lush jungles and brought the desert up.

If I were born in Sub-Saharan Africa, I would be doing the exact same thing my ancestors did. I would be making a pilgrimage north. A long time ago people made a decision to brave the unknown and venture out of their home to seek a better life. They faced their fear and walked across the plains. Their descendants are better off by most measures.

Noboby can avoid responsibility for the condition their life is in. Of course now we live in a very different world, with borders and kings, laws and armies. Maybe it isn't so simple any more? I'm not sure. All I know for sure is that I still have to pay my student loans, come death or dismemberment.