Dream dust

The most impressive thing - as I've been saying at the Park - about Live8 and Make Poverty History is that a handful of celebrity millionaires have whistled a political movement out of no-where. At the least, it shows people care about ending poverty.

Yes, it's strange that they seem to think that poverty only exists in Africa - South America still has crippling poverty (even if the Monroe doctrine says European governments have to keep their noses out of it). Last I checked, South East Asia still contained some horrendous poverty. But no, world poverty and Africa are, apparently synonyms. Even newly prosperous China has something like 24 deaths per 1,000 live births (It is, to be fair, in the mid 60's for Cameroon).

I'll leave why I think Make P{overty History's policies are mistaked to anotehr day, though. The point I'm driving at above, is that a week is a long time in politics, and a lot can change.

This sustains - at least in part - my hope that a conscioous socialist movement can rise over the hill, all sudden like. Past and present absence of support does not mean no future support.