World Debt

[Moskitto]

Why don't countries who owe loads and loads of debt, just become democracies and write into their constitutions that they'll no longer pay off any of the debt.

Then if the US or any of their allies try to invade, they'll be seen as the aggressors by lots of people and there would be Leftists, Reform Capitalists and anyone else who doesn't like what's going on who would build a big army to fight them.

[MJM]

The problem would be embargos.
The embargos largely stop trade with the US, but the US won't trade with countries who trade with embargoed countries.
The idea that if the US invades people will do something is pretty much being proved wrong in Afghanistan, although the conditions are different the US would manufacture a pretense to fool the world into following their cause.
Don't forget their precious 'protection of US interests'.

[HardcoreCommie]

They also wouldn't get anymore LOANS to IMPROVE their ECONOMIES.

It's like what would happen if you borrowed money for school and then didn't pay it back. Later on you decide to buy a house and try to get a loan, you wouldn't get one.

[El Che]

Slavery by debt... Thats what this is all about. Economic world relations are based on subjugation and subordination of one contry to the next. The system is set up to ensure thrid world contries will never get on their feet. The cause of the debt is both the "loans" that are payed back high interest rates, the international corporations that produce their goods in these contries because labor is cheep but then have no social obligations to the contry that produces those goods... the workers of thrid world contries are actualy working to make rich the corporation CEOs of other nations and by doing this they make their own contry poorer and lets not forget the very rich of these contries that also make sure there money is safely tuck away in a swise bank. This creates a national debt that is then again through taxes by who? you guessed it: the workers. Argentina makes nike shoes nike get rich US`S economy goes up, then rich boys in argentina buy nike shoes and the trade balance of their contry starts to tilt the wrong way. IMF and other organisations make the problem even bigger, the "loans to imporve their economy" are actualy one more way of exploring them and making them slaves by debt. This ensures they will never be able to get their own economy back on track and start producing instead of importing. You see capitalism doesnt work very well if there is noone to be explored, it is based of domination and subordination of nations by nations and classes by classes. You should read my thread on "third world debt and freedom of movement of economic agents" its in the commie club. And HardcoreCommie you are not allowed to post that crap here as you know very well so go away before something bad happens.

[RAM]

They won’t relive the debt because if they get rid of it for Africa then other people will say why don't you cancel it for me because I am struggling with repayments.

[Renegade]

Well if the US want to play dirty with trade, then why not make a fair trading and self-sufficency alliance. Countries of the world who don't want to pay back their debts just ally with other such countries and establish a trading alliance. They won't need 'LOANS' because it'll be self-sufficient and with the help of the other countries can implement infrastructure, labour schemes, you know, all that stuff.

At the same time, this will allow for the promotion of socialist internationalist ideals through the cooperation that the people of the nations give to one another. It embodies the statement, think globally act logicaly.

[peaccenicked]

TOP 1 PERCENT EARN AS MUCH AS 57 PERCENT POOREST.

The world's richest 50 million people earn as much as the poorest 2.7 billion and may soon be forced to live in heavily protected gated communities to escape the resentment of the billions living below the poverty line, the Guardian reports (UK) a senior World Bank economist warns today.

Research from Branko Milanovic, published today in the Economic Journal, shows that in a wide ranging study covering 85 percent of the world's population from 91 countries, the richest 1 percent of the world have income equivalent to the poorest 57 percent.

Four fifths of the world's population live below what countries in North America and Europe consider the poverty line. The poorest 10 percent of Americans are still better off than two-thirds of the world population. "We can wonder how long such huge inequalities may persist in the face of ever closer contacts, not least through television and movies, where opulent lifestyles of the rich influence expectations and often breed resentment among the poor," said Milanovic. "
Poverty is the main source of debt
which has to be paid back in hard currency and high interest rates.
Debt is just another way to exploit the world's poor.

[Moskitto]

There's allready companies helping individuals with debt. They offer reduction of canceling of debt repayments if you can't keep up.

The thing is, these countries have a lot more debt to pay off yet no one seems to care.

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from Moskitto on 12:52 am on Jan. 19, 2002
Why don't countries who owe loads and loads of debt, just become democracies and write into their constitutions that they'll no longer pay off any of the debt.

Then if the US or any of their allies try to invade, they'll be seen as the aggressors by lots of people and there would be Leftists, Reform Capitalists and anyone else who doesn't like what's going on who would build a big army to fight them.

Countries don't just "become democracies" overnight. No dictator would write away their power, so this requires an uprising of the poor, which is very hard to organize. That's first of all.

Second of all, as everyone said there would be no way to get a loan if they write in their constitution that they'll never pay anything back. There would also be embargoes as MJM pointed out.

The US probably would invade, but they would not say "we're trying to get another colony." Before, they would have used the War on Some Drugs as an excuse, now they'd invade in the name of the War on Some Terrorism. They'd never be honest, so any invasion would be supported by the American public no matter what.

[MJM]

Quote: from Renegade on 1:36 am on Jan. 20, 2002
Well if the US want to play dirty with trade, then why not make a fair trading and self-sufficency alliance. Countries of the world who don't want to pay back their debts just ally with other such countries and establish a trading alliance. They won't need 'LOANS' because it'll be self-sufficient and with the help of the other countries can implement infrastructure, labour schemes, you know, all that stuff.

At the same time, this will allow for the promotion of socialist internationalist ideals through the cooperation that the people of the nations give to one another. It embodies the statement, think globally act logicaly.




I think that's the only way to go, if it could be done. Which I doubt, too many people would interfere and play favourites, divide and concor as the saying goes.

[Supermodel]

I'm bumping this up because it is truly the next big global issue.

Countries like Nicaragua would pay 25% of their GNP if they kept up with their debt payments. Worse yet, the money loaned never got to the people in the first place.

When will the World Bank and IMF realize that they are part of the problem and not the solution?