The Despicable Racism of Debt Relief.
by David Stanley Baker
In the U.K. there is a loud campaign by a coalition of rock stars, minor celebrities, churchmen and politicians as well as members of the public to "forgive" debts owed by various third world countries. The reasoning behind this is that "it is not the fault of the ordinary people" of those countries that owe billions in missed repayments. This may be true, but that is not a good enough reason to allow money to be spent in this way.
As a self-employed artisan I am familiar with the ups and downs of finance on the small scale. There have been times when I have found it very difficult to make repayments on loans for machinery and tooling that were essential for completing the work I had undertaken. If I had said to my bank, "I'm sorry but would like you to forgive me my debts because I haven't made enough this month," I would have either received a laugh or a NO WAY!
The consequences of failure to repay money are a bad credit rating. This applies to a country as much as an individual. Those who support debt forgiveness are condemning whole countries to a special status as inept and infantile, incapable of independence. This may be an accurate description of their governments but it is surely racist to describe a whole population in this way.
There are several very poor countries with no debt. We would be persecuting them by forgiving their neighbours but not giving them billions of taxpayers' money. As an individual with a benevolent outlook I support projects where I can invest in people who can demonstrate a rational and realistic attitude toward business. I have travelled extensively on foot and bicycle in Africa, and the people I have met have shown as much entreprenurial ability as those here. It is their truly evil governments and the ideas they espouse that are responsible for the sad state of these countries. These people exist throughout the world (you just have to bypass government to find them).
Debt relief without governmental change is immoral and racist. It is stealing (from the creditor and taxpayer) and reinforcing irresponsible and criminal behaviour. The next generation will learn that money comes from foreign governments and will lose the drive to improve their lives. This is evident in this country by visiting any inner city council estate.
As such I will oppose it and live with the consequences.
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