"I will leave you with this final thought for the weekend: the late Canadian Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Pierre Elliot Trudeau once made an impassioned plea to the world regarding its most serious problem. Long before the collapse of the Soviet Empire, he stated that, in his considered opinion, the most pressing issues of the world were not east to west, but north to south.

The horrendous poverty of the peoples of Africa remains an utterly cruel human condition that must be put right. The Live 8 concerts of the next week or two is an opportunity for all of us to make a statement that we care for those in the world who cannot cope for themselves."

It occurred to me later that many of you are turned off at the sight of wealthy entertainers like U2's Bono urging your government (whichever one) to take your money and send it to corrupt regimes in Africa instead of funding programmes at home, like daycare, food banks, and advanced and special education. After all there is only so much money, right?

Well let's try to think through the problem and come up with a better solution.

For Canada's Live 8 concert, Ticketmaster is offering some free tickets to those who complete the following quiz: "According to Live 8 and Make Poverty History, what can the G8 leaders do to help solve this problem: (A) increase foreign aid, (B) cancel the debt of poor countries, (C) make trade rules fair for poor countries, or (D) all of the above.

Frankly I'd vote for none of the above. I believe that the G8 nations are a small part of the answer, and moreover they don't want to be the answer.

Besides, they have proven they are not the answer. The Live 8 concert organizers want our governments to direct 0.7 pct of GDP to foreign aid. That figure was conceived in the 1960s by a former Canadian Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, and adopted as policy by the United Nations General Assembly.

So what's happened in the past 40 years? Well, Canada, which used to spend over 0.5 pct of GDP on foreign aid, now spends less than half that.

As to the United Nations, I believe the organization is a cesspool of corruption and ineptitude. So why bother?

As to business corporations, management is under pressure from shareholders to maximize net profit, which means they are lobbying government for the same subsidies that go against fair trade principles.

And as to the origin of the poverty problem in Africa, and elsewhere in the world, much of it has to do with the control and exploitation of many people by a few people. Whether the system is called communism or democracy, run by military juntas or bureaucrats, oligarchs or CEOs, the game is the same. It's all about gaining and keeping power over people in order to grind whatever ax they choose.

If a wealthy society is truly concerned about a poor society, it ought not to go seeking solutions from parties that are not motivated to provide them.

I speak out frequently about the ills of our capital markets, being in the hands of governments, corporations (i.e., the sell-side) and judges. But, without our capital, there is no market.

These intermediaries have organized themselves to take control over the capital market, and hence, control over our capital. I say to whomever will listen: this nonsense must stop.

We, the owners of capital, must disintermediate all parties that come between us. We have the right to do that because it is our capital. In fact, if enough of us take our capital offshore, we can sooner or later force all governments to change the tax system to a simple charge on consumption.

That way a buck is a buck. Society could get to an efficient, level playing field with such a tax system.

As I see it, there is one solution to eradicating poverty, which is for wealthy people to directly provide for the essentials of those people who need it. The bare essentials are: food and water, shelter and healthcare.

Moreover, there are a billion people who need these essentials in order to live any kind of life. I'm not talking about living a minimalist life with a right to personal safety, education, or whatever. I am speaking about the right to a life, versus the prospects of a certain death at a young age.

Yes, certain life versus certain death, as a child.

There are a billion people on earth who face the prospects of the latter, and a billion others who, if organized, could easily give those billion people a life.

But the more we ask agents (i.e., governments, corporations and the United Nations) to solve the problem for us, the richer those agents become, the poorer the poor become, and the earlier the children die.

To solve this problem "- rich person to poor person " we have to do the job ourselves.

A private sector solution could come from the same Live 8 entertainers " the U2's Bono and friends " working with in-place not-for-profit agencies like the International Red Cross to establish food banks, water reservoirs, tent housing and volunteer hospitals throughout Africa. The Red Cross does a terrific job today, but I'm talking about a different funding and oversight not-for-profit organization that would serve a single mission: eradicate the most wretched poverty in Africa.

If the G8 nations wanted to help, they could and should provide military protection for field workers to ensure the programme is not stopped. There is no rogue nation in Africa that could stop the military might of the G8.

But the money and valuable services has to come from wealthy people of the world who care about finally solving a serious global problem, and who will demand accountability for the value they donated. People like you and me.

In my case, I believe I could, without difficulty, organize 100 or more of the world's top traders to manage offshore (and untaxed) a pool of billions of dollars of donated capital, at minimal cost, with the profits going to finance this programme.

Even the wealthy only live once. We're dead a long time. Give it some thought.

Thank you.

---

I hit a nerve. People care about social equity, which is the reason I do this blog.
http://theskinnyreport.blogspot.com/2005/06/challenge.html