A Friends of the Earth Article.
OIL COMPANIES SUPERMARKETS PETR0-CHEMICAL FIRMS. AIRLINES
Globally they spend millions of pounds undermining environmental policy
Big businesses spend serious money on advertising and PR telling us that they are doing their bit for the environment. But away from the public eye they're spending many millions holding back environmental progress.
Airlines are spending millions to persuade governments to expand airports. Petro-chemical companies are blocking environmentally friendly measures because of the cost to them. Oil companies are funding "independent thinktanks", designed to undermine serious climate change research. And they are all doing it for one thing - profit.
TO THEM IT'S JUST GOOD BUSINESS. THEY WANT TO CARRY ON AS USUAL. AND THEY ARE READY TO SPEND MILLIONS TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN.
For more information contact Friends of the Earth.
Monday 24 October 2011
Friday 7 October 2011
Feral scum - a view of the recent riots
Feral scum? Look no further than our politicians
by Anna Chem (New Internationalist, October,2011)
How was your Summer? Ours was ... um .. interesting.
If you look up the word schadenfreude and you'll likely find an image of the English riots examined by the laughing faces of Chinese, Iranians and other assorted recipients of British democracy know-how down the ages.
With only months to go before the 2012 olympics, based half an hour up the road from Hackney, one of the riot hot spots, the world takes another lurch nearer to the Twiligh Zone. Next year's British sporting spectacular has gone from being merely the austerity Olympics to the take your own life in your hands and see who comes out of this alive extravaganza.
Synchronized fleeing and dodge-the-javelin are likely to be major attractions.
The first rule of Riot Club is that you must not talk about the causes. The second rule of Riot club is ....
What was amazing was to see our politicians who had been dragged back from their August holidays, lining up in Parliament to condemn the looters at the bottom of society. MP's who had been caught with their fingers in the till wrungs their hands over the culture of greed.
If you want to study the genesis of the current cycle of "something for nothing" surely you need look no further than Mr and Mrs Freebie, Tony and Cherie Blair. It was only a short while prior to the insurrection that we'd woken up to the fact that Britain has been run by dark forces for decades. Press, politicians and police fell into disgrace as the full depth of their corruption was exposed by Hackgate. The bankers whose crisis started the recession have been laughing all the way to their annual bonuses while we turn into rats in a sack, head chickens and attention-deficit goldfish.
But now British society doesn't know whether to bang up the biggest or the nearest. And so a bystander to the riots, who picked up a bottle of water from a smashed shop was imprisoned for six months.
It feels like 1930's Germany, with a soupcon of Parisian Communard-baiting as kids are written off as "feral scum" and "rats".
Perhaps the Prime Minister, David Cameron should invite the Taliban to keep control in the Olympic village next year, much as the Hells Angels were employed by the Rolling Stones to maintain discipline at their infamous Altamont concert. After all, Cameron wanted to bring in the head of the notorious L A cops (with their record beating murder figures) for advice. So why not?
Insurrection, calls for a mangled internet and soldiers on the streets .... if I wanted an army turning on its own people, I'd go back to Tiannaman square. Rumours have it that, after years of berating them for their contempt for freedom of speech, Cameron is consulting the Chinese authorities on shutting down the social networks.
Now that is a riot!!
by Anna Chem (New Internationalist, October,2011)
How was your Summer? Ours was ... um .. interesting.
If you look up the word schadenfreude and you'll likely find an image of the English riots examined by the laughing faces of Chinese, Iranians and other assorted recipients of British democracy know-how down the ages.
With only months to go before the 2012 olympics, based half an hour up the road from Hackney, one of the riot hot spots, the world takes another lurch nearer to the Twiligh Zone. Next year's British sporting spectacular has gone from being merely the austerity Olympics to the take your own life in your hands and see who comes out of this alive extravaganza.
Synchronized fleeing and dodge-the-javelin are likely to be major attractions.
The first rule of Riot Club is that you must not talk about the causes. The second rule of Riot club is ....
What was amazing was to see our politicians who had been dragged back from their August holidays, lining up in Parliament to condemn the looters at the bottom of society. MP's who had been caught with their fingers in the till wrungs their hands over the culture of greed.
If you want to study the genesis of the current cycle of "something for nothing" surely you need look no further than Mr and Mrs Freebie, Tony and Cherie Blair. It was only a short while prior to the insurrection that we'd woken up to the fact that Britain has been run by dark forces for decades. Press, politicians and police fell into disgrace as the full depth of their corruption was exposed by Hackgate. The bankers whose crisis started the recession have been laughing all the way to their annual bonuses while we turn into rats in a sack, head chickens and attention-deficit goldfish.
But now British society doesn't know whether to bang up the biggest or the nearest. And so a bystander to the riots, who picked up a bottle of water from a smashed shop was imprisoned for six months.
It feels like 1930's Germany, with a soupcon of Parisian Communard-baiting as kids are written off as "feral scum" and "rats".
Perhaps the Prime Minister, David Cameron should invite the Taliban to keep control in the Olympic village next year, much as the Hells Angels were employed by the Rolling Stones to maintain discipline at their infamous Altamont concert. After all, Cameron wanted to bring in the head of the notorious L A cops (with their record beating murder figures) for advice. So why not?
Insurrection, calls for a mangled internet and soldiers on the streets .... if I wanted an army turning on its own people, I'd go back to Tiannaman square. Rumours have it that, after years of berating them for their contempt for freedom of speech, Cameron is consulting the Chinese authorities on shutting down the social networks.
Now that is a riot!!
Should foreign investment replace aid for Africa?
The virtue of overseas aid is back in the spotlight, as Africa's economies boom.
Should foreign investment replace aid for Africa?
Donu Kogbara believes it should. Her many experiences in Ethiopia and other African countries have convinced her that donors are inadvertently encouraging developing countries to be dependent.
African nations are riddled with corruption and incompetence, they are, therefore, the architects of most of their misfortunes. They must grow up, clean up their acts, get off their backsides and learn how to become more self reliant, dynamic and dignified
She believes Africans must think big, believe in themselves, demand high standards, take full responsibility for their destiny and aggressively embrace the "trade not aid" mantra.
More pressure, she says, should be put on the leaders to deliver progress and transparecy, the priority should be the creation of wealth, the empowerment of indigenous entrepreneurs and foreign investment pursued.
Being spoon-fed handouts by well meaning white liberals, who have a penchant for not telling us tough home truths, is the last thing we need.
I'm convinced that foreign donors are de-motivating Africans with kindness. They infantilize us with their soothing 'there, there' approach and make us feel that it's fine to whip out begging bowls. Donu Kogbara
Dereje Alemayehu disagrees, he agrees and shares the contempt and outrage with regard to Africa's leaders, but says that Aid cannot be made responsible for what it is not meant to do. Aid cannot buy democracy. Aid is not the primary support that props up corrupt regimes.
He believes that if the primary motive to attain political power is self enrichment, then you will be a thief with or without aid. Getting rid of tyrants and thieves is the responsibility of African citizens.
The solution to aid abuse is the fight for accountability and transparency to make it serve its purpose, not to cut off aid. When aid is perverted by donor countries to promote business interests or to buy the loyalty of corrupt regimes for geopolitical ends, this is not aid, it is economic and political corruption.
Aid should have only one purpose - the eradication of poverty. That is why he supports aid and is engaged in fighting its abuse.
Can we rely on foreign investors to deliver development? The amount they steal through agressive tax evasion is fourfold what comes in as aid. I can't see how ending aid would make them change their behaviour. Dereje Alemayehu.
Donu in response to this says that she too is concerned about the misuse of aid, but states that she didn't have this in mind when she spoke about foreign donors, she expressed her view that they are unintentionally making developing nations weak.
She suspects that this leads to welfare dependency, and believes that most economically challenged individuals and countries will, as a general rule, perform more impressively if they are urged to stand on their own feet. We are capable, she says, of solving our poverty problems without leading on Western philanthropists.
Dereje argues that Donu seems to suggest that a causal link exists between aid and poor political leadership. But he believes aid dependency syndrome only comes about if there is a self seeking leadership. He believes development isn't about money, but a political process propelled by nationalism. By this he means a national project that makes ending poverty a priority, an outrage at the preponderance of abject poverty in a country and a decision to tackle it with the utmost urgency it deserves. A leadership committed to this kind of nationalism, instead of using political power for self-enrichment, would necessarily use aid as a complementary resource to national efforts.
The driving motive for foreign investment is short term profit maximization to pay fat dividends to ever-greedy shareholders. Putting profits first will not serve long term equitable and sustainable development. It will promise shareholder value by making the rich richer, but it will not end poverty.
Donu responds by saying she is not totally heartless!! and doesn't object to generous amounts of emergency aid being provided by the international community whenever countries or regions are crippled by natural disasters and famines.
However in her belief, foreign investment will always be superior to foreign aid within the context of non emergency scenarios. She provides examples of aid from the EU being serious errors of judgment and not serving the purposes it was intended and believes that investment in the area would have helped more people than the aid.
She cites as an example a town in Nigeria's Niger delta which was once a semi comatose backwater, but is now a thriving hive of commercial activity thanks, she says to an Italian oil company.
Derej says attracting FDI with generous tax holidays and freedom to repatriate profits is already a priority in all African countries, but the dynamism that Donu alludes to is just not there. Foreign companies tend to extract wealth in enclaves without helping the development of host countries productive capabilities.
Colonial policy was all about 'nipping productive capacity in the bud' and multi-national dominated globalization is carrying on in the same vein. That is why diamonds cause death and poverty in Lubumbashi but riches and glory in Antwerp.
FDI has not distrubed the peaceful co-existence between lucrative foreign business and perennial stagnation, has not liften African commodity producers out of subsistence income levels. Its advances towards promoting value chain activities, creating decent jobs, transferring knowledge and technology or investing in research and development are negligible. You cannot expect miracles in this department. He goes on to say that profits go to companies' countries of origin and rampant tax evasion drains resources from Africa's social infrastructure provision.
Aid is not useful only when directed at providing help during emergencies. It also builds resilience for the next emergency, and helps plug the vital infrastructure gap that FDI will never address.
The two participants of this debate are:
Donu Kogbara a Nigerian print and broadcast journalist. She acts as a Director on the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority Board and is part of the African Arguments debates forum. africanarguments.org
Dereje Alemayehu is a development worker of Ethiopian origin, Christian Aid's Country Manager for East Africa and Chair of the Tax Justice Network Africa.
The views expressed in this debate are entirely his own.
Please feel free to comment on this article.
Should foreign investment replace aid for Africa?
Donu Kogbara believes it should. Her many experiences in Ethiopia and other African countries have convinced her that donors are inadvertently encouraging developing countries to be dependent.
African nations are riddled with corruption and incompetence, they are, therefore, the architects of most of their misfortunes. They must grow up, clean up their acts, get off their backsides and learn how to become more self reliant, dynamic and dignified
She believes Africans must think big, believe in themselves, demand high standards, take full responsibility for their destiny and aggressively embrace the "trade not aid" mantra.
More pressure, she says, should be put on the leaders to deliver progress and transparecy, the priority should be the creation of wealth, the empowerment of indigenous entrepreneurs and foreign investment pursued.
Being spoon-fed handouts by well meaning white liberals, who have a penchant for not telling us tough home truths, is the last thing we need.
I'm convinced that foreign donors are de-motivating Africans with kindness. They infantilize us with their soothing 'there, there' approach and make us feel that it's fine to whip out begging bowls. Donu Kogbara
Dereje Alemayehu disagrees, he agrees and shares the contempt and outrage with regard to Africa's leaders, but says that Aid cannot be made responsible for what it is not meant to do. Aid cannot buy democracy. Aid is not the primary support that props up corrupt regimes.
He believes that if the primary motive to attain political power is self enrichment, then you will be a thief with or without aid. Getting rid of tyrants and thieves is the responsibility of African citizens.
The solution to aid abuse is the fight for accountability and transparency to make it serve its purpose, not to cut off aid. When aid is perverted by donor countries to promote business interests or to buy the loyalty of corrupt regimes for geopolitical ends, this is not aid, it is economic and political corruption.
Aid should have only one purpose - the eradication of poverty. That is why he supports aid and is engaged in fighting its abuse.
Can we rely on foreign investors to deliver development? The amount they steal through agressive tax evasion is fourfold what comes in as aid. I can't see how ending aid would make them change their behaviour. Dereje Alemayehu.
Donu in response to this says that she too is concerned about the misuse of aid, but states that she didn't have this in mind when she spoke about foreign donors, she expressed her view that they are unintentionally making developing nations weak.
She suspects that this leads to welfare dependency, and believes that most economically challenged individuals and countries will, as a general rule, perform more impressively if they are urged to stand on their own feet. We are capable, she says, of solving our poverty problems without leading on Western philanthropists.
Dereje argues that Donu seems to suggest that a causal link exists between aid and poor political leadership. But he believes aid dependency syndrome only comes about if there is a self seeking leadership. He believes development isn't about money, but a political process propelled by nationalism. By this he means a national project that makes ending poverty a priority, an outrage at the preponderance of abject poverty in a country and a decision to tackle it with the utmost urgency it deserves. A leadership committed to this kind of nationalism, instead of using political power for self-enrichment, would necessarily use aid as a complementary resource to national efforts.
The driving motive for foreign investment is short term profit maximization to pay fat dividends to ever-greedy shareholders. Putting profits first will not serve long term equitable and sustainable development. It will promise shareholder value by making the rich richer, but it will not end poverty.
Donu responds by saying she is not totally heartless!! and doesn't object to generous amounts of emergency aid being provided by the international community whenever countries or regions are crippled by natural disasters and famines.
However in her belief, foreign investment will always be superior to foreign aid within the context of non emergency scenarios. She provides examples of aid from the EU being serious errors of judgment and not serving the purposes it was intended and believes that investment in the area would have helped more people than the aid.
She cites as an example a town in Nigeria's Niger delta which was once a semi comatose backwater, but is now a thriving hive of commercial activity thanks, she says to an Italian oil company.
Derej says attracting FDI with generous tax holidays and freedom to repatriate profits is already a priority in all African countries, but the dynamism that Donu alludes to is just not there. Foreign companies tend to extract wealth in enclaves without helping the development of host countries productive capabilities.
Colonial policy was all about 'nipping productive capacity in the bud' and multi-national dominated globalization is carrying on in the same vein. That is why diamonds cause death and poverty in Lubumbashi but riches and glory in Antwerp.
FDI has not distrubed the peaceful co-existence between lucrative foreign business and perennial stagnation, has not liften African commodity producers out of subsistence income levels. Its advances towards promoting value chain activities, creating decent jobs, transferring knowledge and technology or investing in research and development are negligible. You cannot expect miracles in this department. He goes on to say that profits go to companies' countries of origin and rampant tax evasion drains resources from Africa's social infrastructure provision.
Aid is not useful only when directed at providing help during emergencies. It also builds resilience for the next emergency, and helps plug the vital infrastructure gap that FDI will never address.
The two participants of this debate are:
Donu Kogbara a Nigerian print and broadcast journalist. She acts as a Director on the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority Board and is part of the African Arguments debates forum. africanarguments.org
Dereje Alemayehu is a development worker of Ethiopian origin, Christian Aid's Country Manager for East Africa and Chair of the Tax Justice Network Africa.
The views expressed in this debate are entirely his own.
Please feel free to comment on this article.
Disabled rights defenders pile on the pressure
From an article in New Internationalist magazine, September edition 2011
Sick of being labelled work-shy by the tabloid press, disabled and frail people across Britain are mounting a powerful campaign against government cuts.
Some 10,000 people turned out for the Hardest Hit March in London in May to demand the right to a decent life, with income and support for the most vulnerable.
Since this mobilization, the largest rally of disabled people in living memory, a lot of e-activism and organising has brought the fight home to cities across the country.
People are worried about losing their benefits, some say if they lose their mobility benefits it would mean being stuck indoors 24/7. Some of the marchers say they (the government) should take the barriers to work away, not the support.
Groups are springing up all over the country and are fiercely grass roots and user led and firmly rooted in the wider anti-cuts movement. Beth Tichborne from Campaign for a fair society believes that there is a really good philosophy emerging and says "It's about making protest accesible and not talking on behalf of people"
Eleanor Lisney fromm Disabled People Against Cuts believes it is a question of self-defence, everyone is affected and believes this is the reason for the unprecedented response. She says her community are reeling from the cuts on all sides.
The chronically ill and dying have been having benefits taken away from them by the Atos computer programme - and this has sparked depression and even suicide for some people. Benefits like the disability living allowance are also under review, plus local councils are cutting back on vital social care.
This growing movement is making an impact, the sit ins and vigorous lobbying against Atos has helped prompt a highly critical select committee report. Legal challenges are forcing local authority re thinks and DPAC hope to force a goverment U-turn on benefit changes.
Some links for readers who want to read further:
dpac.uk.net
campaignforafairsociety.org
mylifemychoice.org.uk
Sick of being labelled work-shy by the tabloid press, disabled and frail people across Britain are mounting a powerful campaign against government cuts.
Some 10,000 people turned out for the Hardest Hit March in London in May to demand the right to a decent life, with income and support for the most vulnerable.
Since this mobilization, the largest rally of disabled people in living memory, a lot of e-activism and organising has brought the fight home to cities across the country.
People are worried about losing their benefits, some say if they lose their mobility benefits it would mean being stuck indoors 24/7. Some of the marchers say they (the government) should take the barriers to work away, not the support.
Groups are springing up all over the country and are fiercely grass roots and user led and firmly rooted in the wider anti-cuts movement. Beth Tichborne from Campaign for a fair society believes that there is a really good philosophy emerging and says "It's about making protest accesible and not talking on behalf of people"
Eleanor Lisney fromm Disabled People Against Cuts believes it is a question of self-defence, everyone is affected and believes this is the reason for the unprecedented response. She says her community are reeling from the cuts on all sides.
The chronically ill and dying have been having benefits taken away from them by the Atos computer programme - and this has sparked depression and even suicide for some people. Benefits like the disability living allowance are also under review, plus local councils are cutting back on vital social care.
This growing movement is making an impact, the sit ins and vigorous lobbying against Atos has helped prompt a highly critical select committee report. Legal challenges are forcing local authority re thinks and DPAC hope to force a goverment U-turn on benefit changes.
Some links for readers who want to read further:
dpac.uk.net
campaignforafairsociety.org
mylifemychoice.org.uk
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