Indeed send it to St. Bob , Bono and Jessie "Hymietown" Jackson, the next time he speaks of a Marshall plan for our "inner" cities, i.e. his cronies.

Having spent six years in Kenya, I can say there are many people who feel the same as Shikwati.

I've likewise spent a fair amount of time in Zimbabwe and this view squares with what I've seen. Many, more than enough, African people are enterprising if given a chance. Unfortunately, the resistribution model of aid undermines that.

I'm waiting for all these demonstrators to demand that the African governments reform thier political and economic systems which are the main reason for their impoverishment, but I won't hold my breath. Easier to ask the self flaggelating West to write a check to ease their conscience rather than make any kind of impact.

By all rights Africa should be a superpower in terms of agricultural and mineral wealth yet it's a basket case. Then again when you have rulers like Robert Mugabe who turned the most prosperous nation on the continent into a wasteland, what should one expect?

But say that to one of the protesters and be met with slurs of racist, fascist, etc etc etc.

Will, you are on fire with your recent posts about Pelosi and the Shikwati interview. Great stuff I haven't seen anywhere else, precisely why I am an avid VodkaPundit reader. Thanks for the outstanding work.

Finally, someone who understands truth and isn't afraid to speak it

Excellent post!

Thanks for a great post. We urgently need to "fire" the Jeffrey Sachs academic crowd, and put Mr. Shikwati in charge of developing the intellectual model for how the G-8 should help African economies in the future.

I'd pay good money to see the interviewer's face as Shikati stamped all over his "paladin on a white charger" beliefs. Hilarious.

I want to echo wirefan - you have stepped it up a notch. You're posting fantastic stuff lately. You should get paid (more).

bladedoc, no one could've said it any better. Foreign Aid can be blatantly racist at times but I suppose one needs to be an African transplant to fully understand my meaning.

They'll love you when you're in need but when you're on your own two feet they dont particularly give a damn. Experienced this time and time again from the liberal priveledged in this country and its only a microcosm of global foreign policy.

True -- it's provocative to hear this view from Shikwati, and some of the other comments from expats remind me of the severely anti-aid views held by many Peace Corps vets I have known. But, it's not right to say, "Let's just wait on ending poverty until African governments become less corrupt." There are more candidates for blame -- the heritage of slavery, colonialism, Cold War bullying, manipulation by multinational corporations, and the very much current-day U.S. and European protectionism, especially through trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies. A thoughtful libertarian like yourself, dissatisfied with the pro-aid line, should still push the United States and Europe toward some self-reflection and constructive action.