G8

Germany Conduct Raids Ahead of G-8 Summit - New York Times

900 police officers, searched 40 homes and offices in 6 cities in Germany yesterday, a plan to strictly tighten borders, the greatest security since World War II, a 7.5 mile, $17 million fence of concrete and barbed wire, nine navy ships patrolling, 16,000 local police and 1,100 soldiers guarding the perimeter to a remote resort Heiligendamm and intensive police surveillance to protect members for the three day meeting to discuss aid to Africa and climate change at a 3 day event ...

Hmm? I am glad they are talking and that these issues have somehow forced their way on to the agenda, but given the subject of their discussions, their prior record and failures from the Glenn Eagles meeting, that an unarmed protester was killed by police at the meeting in Italy and so on, you would think that they might want to be slightly more open to viewpoints other than the ones they are already taking into the meeting. From the point of view of an investor, (probably the viewpoint they would be most comfortable with) because after all, this is an investment of public money that pays for all this security, you would want to see some return and results for their 3 day meeting. Why am I so skeptical that this time will be any different?

I am skeptical too of their motives, although not nearly like many of the critics who had their homes and offices invaded and searched. One suspects that given George Bush's refusal until very recently to even acknowledge climate change as real, that the best solutions will likely benefit energy and like interests, and one only has to look as far as the Wolfowitz World Bank scandal to see similar kinds of hypocrisies in development aid. Wolfowitz I think doesn't really see how what he did could be construed as wrong even, and seems perfectly willing to let the already tarnished reputation of the fat cat World Bankers suffer further for his own personal benefit.

Even when they get it nearly right and fund well intentioned projects on HIV/AIDS for example, no one would argue that it isn't a great thing to do, however, you will see construction of hospitals and facilities in poor countries that cannot cope with the basic needs of clean water, mosquito nets and lack adequate hospital facilities for routine or emergency care that would likely save even more lives. The whole context of need might just be harder to grasp behind the specially built walls of concrete, wire, police. They would not have to leave their remote resorts and travel to Africa to understand, however, their extreme fear of those who think differently from their own countries might make it harder to bridge the separation of their thinking from the world's reality.