Capitalism and Freedom with John Butler

In Part VII of his series on Capitalism and Freedom, John Butler of the John Butler Trio discusses Africa:

Despite the fact that his nation's debt has been repeatedly forgiven and half his budget comes from foreign aid, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Moseveni now has this to say:

"We Africans are at the mercy of the developed world who have super weapons that could eliminate us from the face of the world in a whisker of time, but instead of working hard to reduce the technological gap, we are just sitting back."

All of which makes the arguments in this item particularly compelling, (including these key quotes):

"In 1998 Uganda was forgiven its debts through the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. As a consequence, government indulged itself in very luxurious expenditure - increasing the size of Parliament - and invaded Congo and Sudan.

And not only that, it went on a renewed borrowing spree and today, seven years later, Uganda's debt has more than doubled and now it is unsustainable...

Foreign aid does not help the poor out of their misery - it exacerbates their problems and prolongs their agony. Taxpayers in the west should not be asked to pay to keep corrupt and incompetent governments in power."

(For those who are curious, more information about the author of these words, Andrew Mwenda - a man who, if all things were equal - would also be lead vocalist with U2.)