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toubab1020
12311 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Feb 2011 : 18:28:47
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It has taken some time for realisation to reach the Gambian political scene ("he is not in Dakar as a politician"  ) but the eyes have been opened,there is other life and peoples outside the limited lives of most Gambians.
http://www.foroyaa.gm/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6188
“The Global Economy is in Crisis” Says Halifa Sallah
By Abubacarr Saidykhan on 14-02-11 (56 reads) News by the same author
Abubacarr Saidykhan Reporting From Dakar- Saidykhan
The Director of the People’s Centre, Social Science Research and Community Initiative, and a renowned Gambian sociologist cum politician, Mr. Halifa Sallah has said that the global economy is in crisis and the option is to think of what production system should emerge.
Mr. Sallah who informed the gathering that he is not in Dakar as a politician but on the invitation of The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) was speaking at a conference organised by the Network of African Youths for Development in UCAD II at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar as part the World Social Forum.
He said young people should seek knowledge so that they would not be misled by anyone on the face of the earth. He said that they need to take a new look at International economics and politics. He said that he has heard some panelists say at the forum that Africa’s contribution to world trade is marginal. He said that this is a farce. The distortion is due to the one-sided way of presenting economic indicators. He said there are many companies outside of Africa that are making billions that depend on the oil, gold, diamond, copper, uranium, cocoa and other commodities that come from African soil in order to enrich themselves at Africa´s expense. He also indicated that African Governments spend billions on arms which are often done in secret. He added that the smuggling of African natural resources is rife as well as the repatriation of billions by African elites for savings in external banks. He said that if all this wealth is quantified it would be difficult to comprehend that Africa is an indispensable part of the world economy. What should actually be said is that Africa is not receiving what it is contributing. Others are benefiting at its expense.
He said he has also heard people say that rich countries should assist Africa. He said the countries which are often considered to be rich have the most indebted governments on earth. He said they take loans to give aid to Africa. He said debtor states are giving assistance to debtor states. He said the US Government is among the most if not the most indebted government on the face of the earth. He said debt is not only a problem of southern economies. It is also a problem of Northern economies.
He called on the conference to challenge whoever comes before them, because people are tired of rhetoric and need solutions.
He said some conceive the struggle for rights as neo liberalism. He said this is a misconception. He said the use of the term is a banalization of the achievement of the social movement. He said both the left and the right in politics are engaged in self denial. He said the right has capitulated to the demands of the social movement and the left is seeing the struggle for rights as neo liberalism. He said there is utter confusion in international politics. He said up to 1824 the repressive combination laws existed in Great Britain. Even Adam Smith who is not classified as a social reformer did argue that the repressive laws which denied workers the freedom of association and the right to speak with one voice to promote better working conditions.
Halifa said that freedom of expression, association and even the right to vote were recognised by law as a result of a struggle against injustice in the North.
He opined that the world should be a world of a sovereign people. He said the world have the potential to be a better place. Sallah called on youths to have hope for a better Africa, noting that Africa does not only need to be a producer of raw materials but also a producer of machines but, Africans still remains consumers. Africa must produce what it needs and what other people need.
He said the vast majority of humankind is deprived of ownership of property and liberty. He said many people can only live if they are employed by somebody and without being employed they must live as beggars in the street and die of abject poverty.
‘’Initially because of the nature of the world the people in the north did not understand how the people in the south were living. What they were interested in was that agriculture will develop, industries will develop, services will develop and the vast majority of them will be able to get employment. The states which emerged in the north were put under pressure by social movements so that they will be able to address the problem of those who were unemployed,’’ he said.
He stated that those states went further towards providing social welfare services for those who were unemployed. Consequently, he said, a middle class was created in the North, that did not own the means of production but could get income and means for a better standard of living such as good food to eat , water to drink, housing and transportation and therefore they were generally satisfied.
He added that as the benefit of life became the centre of the activities of the middle class, banking systems began to address those needs for a higher quality of life. He said the middle class started to access credit such as credit cards so that they would be able to live above their means, by being able to purchase cars, better housing and better living condition all based on debt.
He pointed out that the debts were paid through the deduction from the salaries of the employees to enable them to pay for the houses, cars and other items they took on credit. As a result, he said, the banking system began to fuel consumption without the productive base, developing to guarantee full employment.
He said the banking system was dependent on its prosperity by controlling an international market dominated by corporations which got raw materials from the south and processed it in the north and sent it back to the south as manufactured goods. He went on to explain that the situation increased the accumulation of the banking system as well as expanded the productive base in the North so as to provide employment.
‘’As long as that system continued there was relative prosperity in the north coupled with the demand of the social movement for greater liberty to get more of their rights to be defended and prosperity for a better quality of life.
He further said that the north having conquered the raw materials, land and natural resources of the south, extracted raw materials for their industries and produced beyond what their local markets could consume. The various companies from different Nations began to compete to sell their goods in the over saturated markets of the south.
The farming community in the South cannot be major consumers because they have to sell their raw materials at very cheap prices and purchase manufactured good and become poorer to the extend that even farming implements and fertilizers rise above their means. Their production system went into crisis. They were earning less and therefore fore they have to consume less. The high production capacity of the north can no longer be sustained by the low consumption of the south and because of that the industries in the north began to suffer more crisis and that crisis intensified to a point where those industries are collapsing. Because they are collapsing unemployment is growing. Because of unemployment the taxation system also suffered crisis where the government can no longer tax the corporation because they have to compete with other Corporations. Sallah said that this crisis of unemployment has led to the crisis of the banking system which is also behind the world economic crisis.
To be continued
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 14 Feb 2011 18:30:58 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
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