Debate and discussion: Politics not charity
The last issue of Solidarity (3-63) argued that charity appeals like Bandaid cannot stop world hunger. But does charity do any good at all? The answer to that is yes, to an extent, if you have an immediate need that it meets. And does charity do any harm? Sometimes. For instance Bob Geldof says he just wants to feed people, and would work with “the devil himself” to do it. And he has done! For example in the 1984 Ethiopian famine, the regime stopped food going to certain areas. The Mengistu regime used aid against people, as a pretext to round people up into camps. As many people died in the...