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Written as part of my Higher English Folio
-------------
In a developing country a child’s life has ended before it has begun. While other’s dreams are over, as they need to drop out of school to help their parents who are dying from a simply curable disease. However, this daily event could be avoided if it weren’t for the crippling debt that their country was under.
The Third World debt has been around for decades and millions of people in the developed world are conscious of its existence. As the 21st century is now well under way is it not time as a people that we wipe away this black mark on humanity?
This unpayable debt, which exists in a large percentage of the world’s countries started in simple ways but has escalated into a crisis. In the early 1970’s the United States government was overspending and printing more dollars to make up for it, this resulting in a sharp fall in the value of the dollar all over the world. This in turn affected the price of oil, a vital resource that has always been priced in dollars. Oil-producing countries reacted by raising the price of their product in 1973. Much of the world felt the pain of the sharp rise in price, while oil producers made billions of dollars and deposited them in western banks. This created yet another crisis as interest rates crashed. To avert disaster, banks started lending money to Third World countries that wanted to maintain development and meet the rising costs of oil at the same time. The small matter of one country overspending has haltered the progress of many countries and ruined so many unnecessary lives for many decades.
However it is not these loans that have caused the problems. Along with the loans came a burden, the interest. The governments underestimated how much they could repay and the loans suddenly turned into an increasing debt, and have remained ever since. The original loans have actually been repaid time and time again but the overall debt runs into hundreds of billions of dollars and the fact is that much of this debt will never be paid of, as it is impossible. The countries have still not given up and each year as their debt increases they try their best to eradicate it. This, however, results in less money being injected into the country and health, education and other services suffer drastically. If the slate was wiped clean and these developing countries didn’t have such a burden on their shoulders, the increase in development would be remarkable.
It is estimated that every day 19000 children die due to reasons linked with the debt, that is around 7 million every year. Many of these lives could be saved if the country had an adequate healthcare. For the small price of twenty-seven pence there is a soluble mixture of vitamins and nutrients that could help save thousands from death. The government however cannot not even spare this; hospitals are closing, and doctors do not receive pay or resources. Only so much money can be put in to try and keep what health-care they have, and in many countries the amount invested in health is less than what is repaid in debt in a month. Most areas of Third World countries do not have access to water and many need to walk for miles just to drink polluted water. There is no money available to build a proper water system. Most people are illiterate and there is not much hope of an education if schools are closing for the same reasons as the hospitals. This is bad enough but some areas of The Third World suffer from natural disasters such as floods. The catastrophic floods, which occurred in Mozambique, killed many and the cost of damages went into millions. This leaves the government in a difficult situation. Many areas are also politically unstable and suffer from war. Some leaders may be corrupt and keep money for themselves or use the country’s capital for weapons, which they would buy off the west, leaving the inhabitants with very little hope of a life. If the debt was dropped then such events would not be financially hit and more people could be helped after such disasters, of course this would not resolve many countries political conflicts.
So why is something that is so inhumane still happening? It seems like common sense to cancel the debt and try and help these countries become something better. The culprit is what started it all, money. There are over 240 banks around the world that have lent money to the Third World countries. They have already made a massive profit and the money repaid is a direct income. However, it is not just banks that have lent money, whole countries as America, Britain and Japan have lent massive capital. It has also been said that some countries may not be able drop the debt, as it would damage that country financially. Also government’s scaremonger saying that many countries would then use their newfound wealth for weapons and such. They argue that the debt holds the world securely, while the banks still only care about making money. The world’s 47 poorest countries total debt is estimated to be $422 billion. A ‘rich country’ such as America spends $427 billion on the military alone in one year. With figures like these you must start to question the people that run the world.
Having said that, the developed world does not simply turned a blind eye to the problems. Ever since the governments and banks realised that there was debt that would never be repaid, they have hatched plan after plan, initiative after initiative. Many of these plans have not solved the whole problem and much of the crisis still exists. Although some of the millions of debt have been dropped after it was decided that to pay all the debt was impossible. So it was reduced to an amount that was seen as repayable. This however does not feed the starving millions, only a percentage on a piece of paper is reduced.
Nevertheless, there is and has always been hope. This is not to do with politicians and banks but with private organisations. The range of people that are against the debt is substantial. Twenty-four million people in 160 countries signed Jubilee 2000's petition calling for the cancellation of the poorest countries' unpayable debts, making it the biggest international petition ever. These sort of actions make something happen, they are responsible for large percentages of debt that have been cleared and have giving millions of aid. Although countries still spend more on debt than they get in aid. The crisis of the debt even stretches as far as famous musicians as Bono of U2 and Bob Geldof. Both of which are extremely involved and regularly campaign about dropping the debt and contributed to one of the largest fundraisers ever, Live Aid. It raised $200 million in 1985 for sub-Saharan Africa. Every week sub-Saharan Africa pays $250 million in debt repayments to the west. These events build awareness in the world, and help repay a small percentage of the debt but this is not enough to solve the problem. The whole debt needs to be cleared and in the near future this may become more of a reality than a dream, despite it’s critics that say it is not a possibility.
The main hope for the developing countries lies in the G8 summit. It consists of the world’s eight wealthiest and most powerful countries. They have literally promised to cancel virtually all of the debt owed to them by 41 of the poorest countries. Many banks, including The World Bank and the IMF are dropping at least a third of debt owed. There is still a long way to go but the future is looking better for The Third World. I feel that the developed world as a people want to wipe away the debt and it only remains for the governments and banks to fully recognise this. So many lives will be saved and improved if such an event takes place. There is still no excuse for the decades of horror that these countries have been through and I hope humanity will learn a valuable lesson from this.
-------------
In a developing country a child’s life has ended before it has begun. While other’s dreams are over, as they need to drop out of school to help their parents who are dying from a simply curable disease. However, this daily event could be avoided if it weren’t for the crippling debt that their country was under.
The Third World debt has been around for decades and millions of people in the developed world are conscious of its existence. As the 21st century is now well under way is it not time as a people that we wipe away this black mark on humanity?
This unpayable debt, which exists in a large percentage of the world’s countries started in simple ways but has escalated into a crisis. In the early 1970’s the United States government was overspending and printing more dollars to make up for it, this resulting in a sharp fall in the value of the dollar all over the world. This in turn affected the price of oil, a vital resource that has always been priced in dollars. Oil-producing countries reacted by raising the price of their product in 1973. Much of the world felt the pain of the sharp rise in price, while oil producers made billions of dollars and deposited them in western banks. This created yet another crisis as interest rates crashed. To avert disaster, banks started lending money to Third World countries that wanted to maintain development and meet the rising costs of oil at the same time. The small matter of one country overspending has haltered the progress of many countries and ruined so many unnecessary lives for many decades.
However it is not these loans that have caused the problems. Along with the loans came a burden, the interest. The governments underestimated how much they could repay and the loans suddenly turned into an increasing debt, and have remained ever since. The original loans have actually been repaid time and time again but the overall debt runs into hundreds of billions of dollars and the fact is that much of this debt will never be paid of, as it is impossible. The countries have still not given up and each year as their debt increases they try their best to eradicate it. This, however, results in less money being injected into the country and health, education and other services suffer drastically. If the slate was wiped clean and these developing countries didn’t have such a burden on their shoulders, the increase in development would be remarkable.
It is estimated that every day 19000 children die due to reasons linked with the debt, that is around 7 million every year. Many of these lives could be saved if the country had an adequate healthcare. For the small price of twenty-seven pence there is a soluble mixture of vitamins and nutrients that could help save thousands from death. The government however cannot not even spare this; hospitals are closing, and doctors do not receive pay or resources. Only so much money can be put in to try and keep what health-care they have, and in many countries the amount invested in health is less than what is repaid in debt in a month. Most areas of Third World countries do not have access to water and many need to walk for miles just to drink polluted water. There is no money available to build a proper water system. Most people are illiterate and there is not much hope of an education if schools are closing for the same reasons as the hospitals. This is bad enough but some areas of The Third World suffer from natural disasters such as floods. The catastrophic floods, which occurred in Mozambique, killed many and the cost of damages went into millions. This leaves the government in a difficult situation. Many areas are also politically unstable and suffer from war. Some leaders may be corrupt and keep money for themselves or use the country’s capital for weapons, which they would buy off the west, leaving the inhabitants with very little hope of a life. If the debt was dropped then such events would not be financially hit and more people could be helped after such disasters, of course this would not resolve many countries political conflicts.
So why is something that is so inhumane still happening? It seems like common sense to cancel the debt and try and help these countries become something better. The culprit is what started it all, money. There are over 240 banks around the world that have lent money to the Third World countries. They have already made a massive profit and the money repaid is a direct income. However, it is not just banks that have lent money, whole countries as America, Britain and Japan have lent massive capital. It has also been said that some countries may not be able drop the debt, as it would damage that country financially. Also government’s scaremonger saying that many countries would then use their newfound wealth for weapons and such. They argue that the debt holds the world securely, while the banks still only care about making money. The world’s 47 poorest countries total debt is estimated to be $422 billion. A ‘rich country’ such as America spends $427 billion on the military alone in one year. With figures like these you must start to question the people that run the world.
Having said that, the developed world does not simply turned a blind eye to the problems. Ever since the governments and banks realised that there was debt that would never be repaid, they have hatched plan after plan, initiative after initiative. Many of these plans have not solved the whole problem and much of the crisis still exists. Although some of the millions of debt have been dropped after it was decided that to pay all the debt was impossible. So it was reduced to an amount that was seen as repayable. This however does not feed the starving millions, only a percentage on a piece of paper is reduced.
Nevertheless, there is and has always been hope. This is not to do with politicians and banks but with private organisations. The range of people that are against the debt is substantial. Twenty-four million people in 160 countries signed Jubilee 2000's petition calling for the cancellation of the poorest countries' unpayable debts, making it the biggest international petition ever. These sort of actions make something happen, they are responsible for large percentages of debt that have been cleared and have giving millions of aid. Although countries still spend more on debt than they get in aid. The crisis of the debt even stretches as far as famous musicians as Bono of U2 and Bob Geldof. Both of which are extremely involved and regularly campaign about dropping the debt and contributed to one of the largest fundraisers ever, Live Aid. It raised $200 million in 1985 for sub-Saharan Africa. Every week sub-Saharan Africa pays $250 million in debt repayments to the west. These events build awareness in the world, and help repay a small percentage of the debt but this is not enough to solve the problem. The whole debt needs to be cleared and in the near future this may become more of a reality than a dream, despite it’s critics that say it is not a possibility.
The main hope for the developing countries lies in the G8 summit. It consists of the world’s eight wealthiest and most powerful countries. They have literally promised to cancel virtually all of the debt owed to them by 41 of the poorest countries. Many banks, including The World Bank and the IMF are dropping at least a third of debt owed. There is still a long way to go but the future is looking better for The Third World. I feel that the developed world as a people want to wipe away the debt and it only remains for the governments and banks to fully recognise this. So many lives will be saved and improved if such an event takes place. There is still no excuse for the decades of horror that these countries have been through and I hope humanity will learn a valuable lesson from this.
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Written as part of my Higher English Folio
-------------
In a developing country a child’s life has ended before it has begun. While other’s dreams are over, as they need to drop out of school to help their parents who are dying from a simply curable disease. However, this daily event could be avoided if it weren’t for the crippling debt that their country was under.
The Third World debt has been around for decades and millions of people in the developed world are conscious of its existence. As the 21st century is now well under way is it not time as a people that we wipe away this black mark on humanity?
This unpayable debt, which exists in a large percentage of the world’s countries started in simple ways but has escalated into a crisis. In the early 1970’s the United States government was overspending and printing more dollars to make up for it, this resulting in a sharp fall in the value of the dollar all over the world. This in turn affected the price of oil, a vital resource that has always been priced in dollars. Oil-producing countries reacted by raising the price of their product in 1973. Much of the world felt the pain of the sharp rise in price, while oil producers made billions of dollars and deposited them in western banks. This created yet another crisis as interest rates crashed. To avert disaster, banks started lending money to Third World countries that wanted to maintain development and meet the rising costs of oil at the same time. The small matter of one country overspending has haltered the progress of many countries and ruined so many unnecessary lives for many decades.
However it is not these loans that have caused the problems. Along with the loans came a burden, the interest. The governments underestimated how much they could repay and the loans suddenly turned into an increasing debt, and have remained ever since. The original loans have actually been repaid time and time again but the overall debt runs into hundreds of billions of dollars and the fact is that much of this debt will never be paid of, as it is impossible. The countries have still not given up and each year as their debt increases they try their best to eradicate it. This, however, results in less money being injected into the country and health, education and other services suffer drastically. If the slate was wiped clean and these developing countries didn’t have such a burden on their shoulders, the increase in development would be remarkable.
It is estimated that every day 19000 children die due to reasons linked with the debt, that is around 7 million every year. Many of these lives could be saved if the country had an adequate healthcare. For the small price of twenty-seven pence there is a soluble mixture of vitamins and nutrients that could help save thousands from death. The government however cannot not even spare this; hospitals are closing, and doctors do not receive pay or resources. Only so much money can be put in to try and keep what health-care they have, and in many countries the amount invested in health is less than what is repaid in debt in a month. Most areas of Third World countries do not have access to water and many need to walk for miles just to drink polluted water. There is no money available to build a proper water system. Most people are illiterate and there is not much hope of an education if schools are closing for the same reasons as the hospitals. This is bad enough but some areas of The Third World suffer from natural disasters such as floods. The catastrophic floods, which occurred in Mozambique, killed many and the cost of damages went into millions. This leaves the government in a difficult situation. Many areas are also politically unstable and suffer from war. Some leaders may be corrupt and keep money for themselves or use the country’s capital for weapons, which they would buy off the west, leaving the inhabitants with very little hope of a life. If the debt was dropped then such events would not be financially hit and more people could be helped after such disasters, of course this would not resolve many countries political conflicts.
So why is something that is so inhumane still happening? It seems like common sense to cancel the debt and try and help these countries become something better. The culprit is what started it all, money. There are over 240 banks around the world that have lent money to the Third World countries. They have already made a massive profit and the money repaid is a direct income. However, it is not just banks that have lent money, whole countries as America, Britain and Japan have lent massive capital. It has also been said that some countries may not be able drop the debt, as it would damage that country financially. Also government’s scaremonger saying that many countries would then use their newfound wealth for weapons and such. They argue that the debt holds the world securely, while the banks still only care about making money. The world’s 47 poorest countries total debt is estimated to be $422 billion. A ‘rich country’ such as America spends $427 billion on the military alone in one year. With figures like these you must start to question the people that run the world.
Having said that, the developed world does not simply turned a blind eye to the problems. Ever since the governments and banks realised that there was debt that would never be repaid, they have hatched plan after plan, initiative after initiative. Many of these plans have not solved the whole problem and much of the crisis still exists. Although some of the millions of debt have been dropped after it was decided that to pay all the debt was impossible. So it was reduced to an amount that was seen as repayable. This however does not feed the starving millions, only a percentage on a piece of paper is reduced.
Nevertheless, there is and has always been hope. This is not to do with politicians and banks but with private organisations. The range of people that are against the debt is substantial. Twenty-four million people in 160 countries signed Jubilee 2000's petition calling for the cancellation of the poorest countries' unpayable debts, making it the biggest international petition ever. These sort of actions make something happen, they are responsible for large percentages of debt that have been cleared and have giving millions of aid. Although countries still spend more on debt than they get in aid. The crisis of the debt even stretches as far as famous musicians as Bono of U2 and Bob Geldof. Both of which are extremely involved and regularly campaign about dropping the debt and contributed to one of the largest fundraisers ever, Live Aid. It raised $200 million in 1985 for sub-Saharan Africa. Every week sub-Saharan Africa pays $250 million in debt repayments to the west. These events build awareness in the world, and help repay a small percentage of the debt but this is not enough to solve the problem. The whole debt needs to be cleared and in the near future this may become more of a reality than a dream, despite it’s critics that say it is not a possibility.
The main hope for the developing countries lies in the G8 summit. It consists of the world’s eight wealthiest and most powerful countries. They have literally promised to cancel virtually all of the debt owed to them by 41 of the poorest countries. Many banks, including The World Bank and the IMF are dropping at least a third of debt owed. There is still a long way to go but the future is looking better for The Third World. I feel that the developed world as a people want to wipe away the debt and it only remains for the governments and banks to fully recognise this. So many lives will be saved and improved if such an event takes place. There is still no excuse for the decades of horror that these countries have been through and I hope humanity will learn a valuable lesson from this.
-------------
In a developing country a child’s life has ended before it has begun. While other’s dreams are over, as they need to drop out of school to help their parents who are dying from a simply curable disease. However, this daily event could be avoided if it weren’t for the crippling debt that their country was under.
The Third World debt has been around for decades and millions of people in the developed world are conscious of its existence. As the 21st century is now well under way is it not time as a people that we wipe away this black mark on humanity?
This unpayable debt, which exists in a large percentage of the world’s countries started in simple ways but has escalated into a crisis. In the early 1970’s the United States government was overspending and printing more dollars to make up for it, this resulting in a sharp fall in the value of the dollar all over the world. This in turn affected the price of oil, a vital resource that has always been priced in dollars. Oil-producing countries reacted by raising the price of their product in 1973. Much of the world felt the pain of the sharp rise in price, while oil producers made billions of dollars and deposited them in western banks. This created yet another crisis as interest rates crashed. To avert disaster, banks started lending money to Third World countries that wanted to maintain development and meet the rising costs of oil at the same time. The small matter of one country overspending has haltered the progress of many countries and ruined so many unnecessary lives for many decades.
However it is not these loans that have caused the problems. Along with the loans came a burden, the interest. The governments underestimated how much they could repay and the loans suddenly turned into an increasing debt, and have remained ever since. The original loans have actually been repaid time and time again but the overall debt runs into hundreds of billions of dollars and the fact is that much of this debt will never be paid of, as it is impossible. The countries have still not given up and each year as their debt increases they try their best to eradicate it. This, however, results in less money being injected into the country and health, education and other services suffer drastically. If the slate was wiped clean and these developing countries didn’t have such a burden on their shoulders, the increase in development would be remarkable.
It is estimated that every day 19000 children die due to reasons linked with the debt, that is around 7 million every year. Many of these lives could be saved if the country had an adequate healthcare. For the small price of twenty-seven pence there is a soluble mixture of vitamins and nutrients that could help save thousands from death. The government however cannot not even spare this; hospitals are closing, and doctors do not receive pay or resources. Only so much money can be put in to try and keep what health-care they have, and in many countries the amount invested in health is less than what is repaid in debt in a month. Most areas of Third World countries do not have access to water and many need to walk for miles just to drink polluted water. There is no money available to build a proper water system. Most people are illiterate and there is not much hope of an education if schools are closing for the same reasons as the hospitals. This is bad enough but some areas of The Third World suffer from natural disasters such as floods. The catastrophic floods, which occurred in Mozambique, killed many and the cost of damages went into millions. This leaves the government in a difficult situation. Many areas are also politically unstable and suffer from war. Some leaders may be corrupt and keep money for themselves or use the country’s capital for weapons, which they would buy off the west, leaving the inhabitants with very little hope of a life. If the debt was dropped then such events would not be financially hit and more people could be helped after such disasters, of course this would not resolve many countries political conflicts.
So why is something that is so inhumane still happening? It seems like common sense to cancel the debt and try and help these countries become something better. The culprit is what started it all, money. There are over 240 banks around the world that have lent money to the Third World countries. They have already made a massive profit and the money repaid is a direct income. However, it is not just banks that have lent money, whole countries as America, Britain and Japan have lent massive capital. It has also been said that some countries may not be able drop the debt, as it would damage that country financially. Also government’s scaremonger saying that many countries would then use their newfound wealth for weapons and such. They argue that the debt holds the world securely, while the banks still only care about making money. The world’s 47 poorest countries total debt is estimated to be $422 billion. A ‘rich country’ such as America spends $427 billion on the military alone in one year. With figures like these you must start to question the people that run the world.
Having said that, the developed world does not simply turned a blind eye to the problems. Ever since the governments and banks realised that there was debt that would never be repaid, they have hatched plan after plan, initiative after initiative. Many of these plans have not solved the whole problem and much of the crisis still exists. Although some of the millions of debt have been dropped after it was decided that to pay all the debt was impossible. So it was reduced to an amount that was seen as repayable. This however does not feed the starving millions, only a percentage on a piece of paper is reduced.
Nevertheless, there is and has always been hope. This is not to do with politicians and banks but with private organisations. The range of people that are against the debt is substantial. Twenty-four million people in 160 countries signed Jubilee 2000's petition calling for the cancellation of the poorest countries' unpayable debts, making it the biggest international petition ever. These sort of actions make something happen, they are responsible for large percentages of debt that have been cleared and have giving millions of aid. Although countries still spend more on debt than they get in aid. The crisis of the debt even stretches as far as famous musicians as Bono of U2 and Bob Geldof. Both of which are extremely involved and regularly campaign about dropping the debt and contributed to one of the largest fundraisers ever, Live Aid. It raised $200 million in 1985 for sub-Saharan Africa. Every week sub-Saharan Africa pays $250 million in debt repayments to the west. These events build awareness in the world, and help repay a small percentage of the debt but this is not enough to solve the problem. The whole debt needs to be cleared and in the near future this may become more of a reality than a dream, despite it’s critics that say it is not a possibility.
The main hope for the developing countries lies in the G8 summit. It consists of the world’s eight wealthiest and most powerful countries. They have literally promised to cancel virtually all of the debt owed to them by 41 of the poorest countries. Many banks, including The World Bank and the IMF are dropping at least a third of debt owed. There is still a long way to go but the future is looking better for The Third World. I feel that the developed world as a people want to wipe away the debt and it only remains for the governments and banks to fully recognise this. So many lives will be saved and improved if such an event takes place. There is still no excuse for the decades of horror that these countries have been through and I hope humanity will learn a valuable lesson from this.