Live Aid was one of the most important events in my life. Millions of people came together from all over the planet to put an end to poverty in Africa. It was one of the most positive, life affirming actions ever created by people of my generation. It created hope. It opened my heart.
But now, twenty years on we realise it was slightly naïve, with much of the money donated by genuine and well-meaning people 'disappearing' before it reached the people in need. Live 8 takes a very different track to raise awareness of poverty - but can we rely on governments behind the G8 to actually make that much difference?
How can we Make Poverty History when the forces causing economic devastation in our world are the same forces that provide our governments with their funding? As long as GDP (GNP in US) is deemed as the most valuable measure of our national 'worth' we are tied to money and its unfair systems - these will always cause poverty in places that don't have resources to exploit and even some that do.
There is enough to go round on this earth - enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed as the saying goes. Does the political will exist to make changes where the system is fair for all? It doesn't seem so. The global financial system and our method of deriving wealth by exploiting capital assets (the earth's resources) will never be equitable. Consumer capitalism relies on poverty as a major motivator. In order to 'have' we need 'have-nots'.
But already the pressure of Live 8 has caused a shift in the agenda of major governments - with both Blair and Bush keen to be doing something more than just wearing the band. But how much can they realistically give away to third world debt? It certainly won't be enough to actually solve the root causes of economic disadvantage experienced in many corners of the world. It certainly won't change the system that results in these economic disadvantages.
But this exciting event will be a paradigm shifter for many people who will look at the deeper causes of poverty, maybe for the first time. People will realise that there are important alternatives to economic globalisation, GDP slavery and 'celebrity' consumer capitalism. Even that many peoples we describe as economically poor may have happy and fulfilled lives.
People will see for themselves how to shift their energy away from earth exploiting activities into more wholesome and fairer ones. This is where the real power to change the situation lies, not just in donating our ill-gotten gains to the poor, or even in heckling governments to 'do something about it', but also in the choices we make every day as individuals.
Choices about how we earn and spend our money, our time, our energy, our resources. Choices about where we go, how we get there, what we look at, how we cope with change. Choices about how we invest in a sustainable future for our finite planet. At present we are using up the resources of this world at an alarming rate, leaving our ancestors-to-come with serious problems. At the moment our investment policies are based on stealing the future from our children.
By divesting 'the GDP economy' of our energy and putting it into non-exploitative practises we tackle the root causes of poverty. By increasing local self-reliance and enhancing 'community' there is much we can do to secure a future where we work for, rather than in competition with each other. Investing our energy in making self-reliant communities for the future may yet turn out to be a better bet than any amount of pension planning.
There are many alternatives to our present economic system. Different systems of shopping - where the people who do the actual work get rewarded, such as Fair Trade, local farmers' markets, vegetable box schemes and local trade systems.
There are different ways of working, earning and saving that do not invest in earth exploitation - such as LETS (Local Economic Trading System), co-operatives, ethical banking, credit unions and other group activity.
There are different value systems that value the hand-made craft item over the industrial, the mended over the built-in obsolescence, the home-made or found over the purchased, the grown over the bought.
There are ways of thinking that generate creative new solutions to old problems, helping us all to do more with less. There are improvements in communications that help us all with making these changes.
We can reclaim our power from the forces that create poverty with the choices we make every day.Respect to Sir Geldof and all who are focusing on the problems of poverty. Bringing pressure to bear on the G8 for a fairer world is a grand move - but there is only so much that governments can and will do.
Read other articles on poverty and new economics at http://Simon-Mitchell.com
Thirty positive actions for a sustainable Earth:There are many ways we can use our human energy to lighten the load on natural resources and tread lightly on our home planet. Check how many of these you do already: http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=49
Eyes down for the prize fight:Present philosophy verses eco-philosophy. Henryk Skolimoski provides a startling model of two opposed value systems. This spider diagram reveals a mind map by a genius who was Philosopher in Residence at Dartington Hall. http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=42
Economics verses Earth:The laws of human economics are in conflict with the laws of the Earth. Where do you draw the line ? Guest article by Donella Meadows, author of Pulitzer Prize-nominated weekly column, 'The Global Citizen'. http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=41
The Cruel Lords of Nature:Around 10,000 years ago, after Earth had emerged from 90,000 years of the last ice age, when mammoths roamed and northern humans shivered in caves, the people who lived in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, in modern day Iraq, invented agriculture. Guest article from author and broadcaster GuyDauncey. http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=40
The End of Education?Prince Charles is right on the ball concerning his comments on education. The development of human potential is a crucial issue on 21st century Earth. http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30
Get creativity?Creativity is central to the management of our individual lives, but in modern times few people are able to access this as a resource. Globally at the moment there are many problems facing mankind. Diminishing natural resources and increasing populations mean that we are in a spiral of entropy. http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16
Paradigms of modern disease:A paradigm is a sort of cultural, consensual pattern of thought or model of something. Paradigms change, like the impact of Galileo's work on disproving the flat-earth theory or Copernicus' heresy that the Earth moves round the Sun. These new ideas met a great deal of resistance from orthodox philosophy but eventually gave rise to a changed perception of the world we live in - a paradigm shift.http://www.simon-mitchell.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10
The Ancient Pathways of Cornwall
The Saint's Way in Cornwall is a story written into the land. This ancient route existed long before it was used by saints, taking advantage of the unique shape of Cornwall and its rivers. Evidence (especially Pictish Art forms) suggest that Phoenicians, Egyptians and Greeks journeyed to west coasts of Britain and Ireland even before the Iron Age, in search of Keltic wisdom and trade. They would hit Cornwall and Southern Ireland first.
The Lily
This land is my memories. For two thousand years this valley has been mine alone. I know every rock, every stream and every tree. I know the forces that shape this land and the people who inhabit it.
Orthodox cancer treatment
Diagnosis is a strength of Western scientific medicine because of its dependence on analytical procedures and processes of elimination. Modern technology has given us many ways to see into the body for effective diagnosis of dis-ease. Nowhere is scientific Western medicine so advanced than in the fields of diagnosis. Although the philosophy of Western medicine often comes in for criticism, modern science has produced many ways in which we can examine and image organisms internally and take samples of tissue in hard to reach places.
