Indigenous Charity

Band Aid Style Charity May Exacerbate Indigenous Misery And Third World Poverty

Nov 12, 2006 Woorama

Do you remember the good old Band Aid lyrics? Patronising? Perpetuating indigenous myths and stereotypes? You be the judge.

"There's a world outside your window, And it's a world of dread and fear, Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears"..."Where nothing ever grows"..."No rain nor river flows"..."(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun"

So, what's wrong with that? They were only trying to help! Well, the only problem with the song is that it reinforced the myth that poverty in Africa is due to some inherent paucity in the land, indigenous resources and indigenous knowledge. It portrays the native peoples as victims of their own environmental and cultural deficit, rather than the reality of western-dominated global trade.

The "dread and fear" mentioned in the song are actually created by "free-trade" policies forced on Africa by the USA and others. For example, countries are forced to open up local markets to American grain traders as a condition of receiving "aid". The American grain is heavily subsidised, and so the local producers are unable to compete and are forced out of the market, exacerbating the conditions of poverty that began with European invasion or political intrusion.

So the idea that this song is "well-intended" or "harmless" is really untenable, as it reinforces not only the myth of the "primitive" African, but also the myth of western "development".

The wanton destruction of the environment and indigenous communities in order to support an unsustainable western standard of living could hardly be called "development". It seems laughable that native people who are able to live sustainable traditional lifestyles in a custodial role on the land are labeled "developing nations". Then the so-called "developed" nations give "aid" with one hand and take away wealth with the other, through usurious foreign debt repayments.

This leaves first nations vulnerable to the ravages of such "development", which involves "developed" nations stripping the land of resources until traditional "subsistence" living is no longer possible. Despite all the valuable "infrastructure" that is installed in this process, the drain on third world resources by western nations creates an economic drought. That is the true source of poverty - not random weather patterns in some mythical land "Where nothing ever grows"..."No rain nor river flows".

Hence, it could be argued that Band Aid did little more than blame the victim in its efforts to "feed the world", perpetuating stereotypes of indigenous primitivism and helplessness.

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