Desmond Tutu: The global "war on terror" can't be won if people are living in "desperate" conditions

[AZBlue]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/16/talkasia.tutu/index.html
From CNN's Mary Lloyd
HONG KONG, China (CNN) --

"You can never win a war against terror as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate -- poverty, disease, ignorance, et cetera," the Nobel laureate said.

Tutu is in Hong Kong, where he is due to give a lecture on conflict resolution, reconciliation and forgiveness.

He said the disparity between the rich and poor in parts of the world causes instability and insecurity, but added that he was hopeful the relationship between the two was becoming clear.

"I think people are beginning to realize that you can't have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think that you can have a stable and secure world," he said.

Smart man.

[TygrBright]

1. Bishop Tutu is a very good and a very wise man...

...but I think he's being a little on the naively optimistic side with this bit:

>>I think people are beginning to realize that you can't have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think that you can have a stable and secure world," he said<<

The 'people' who realize that have known it for a very long time. It's nothing new to us. The others will never figure it out short of a personal, intimate, and shattering encounter with reality, and maybe not even then.

I wish I lived in a world that was full of the people Bishop Tutu thinks the world is full of.

wistfully,
Bright

[Baby Snooks]

2. And one of the Elders...

http://www.theelders.org/welcome/

The world is filled with the people Bishop Tutu speaks of. He and the other Elders are now their voice.

[AZBlue]

6. Wow. What an amazing organization!

"The only agenda of the Elders is that of humanity. And their only purpose is to ease human suffering in three essential areas:

1. Offering a catalyst for the peaceful resolution of conflict.
2. Seeking new approaches to semmingly intractable global issues.
3. Sharing wisdom: reaching out to grassroots Elders and the next generation of leaders. Listening and helping to amplify voices for good all over the world."

Thanks for the link - I signed up for more info.

[flashl]

3. I believe people do realize it

Look at Americans’ response to 9-11 or Katrina. When the general public became of aware that there was a problem. Collectively, and without prompting they acted to improve it. This is similar to politics; there ARE NOT many areas in the U.S. that is absolutely blue or red. The blue and red concept comes from the puppet masters and they echo that message on MSM. We are made to believe that there are large divisions in the hopes and dreams of average Americans.

[jmp]

4. What a load of bull!

The world is full of desperately poor people that don't commit acts of terror ... and sure as heck are not a threat to world peace. This is just another case of any excuse being a great excuse to redistribute OUR wealth to poorer countries.

Thanks but I'll take my chances. The only poor I have any interest in helping is America's poor.

[AZBlue]

5. I don't think he was saying that at all.

The vast majority of the poor have nothing to do with terrorists. However, poverty can lead to terrorism. While a small small percentage of the poor become terrorists, a large marjority of terrorists lived in poverty.

[pampango]

8. Liberals: "Redistribution of wealth - good!"

"Wait, you want to redistribute MY wealth? I thought you wanted to redistribute SOMEONE ELSE'S money, not MINE. Damn."

You may well be right that we don't need to help people in poor countries in order to avoid terrorism. Most poor people are hard working, honest people with no intention of harming anyone. They just want to make a living and raise a family. We in the US can probably safely ignore their poverty, hang on to our money (join the cons in opposing wealth redistribution), and not be too concerned that our own safety will be threatened by terrorists.

Or we could help poor people, because they are poor and that's one of the things makes liberals liberals. If I wanted to ignore the poor unless they threatened my personal safety, I would be posting at Freeperville, not here. If I only cared about Americans and did not try to view issues globally (warming or poverty), I would be posting at Freeperville.

[AtomicKitten]

7. poverty + fundamentalism = match in the gas tank

boom, boom

[Vidar]

9. Tutu is precisely correct.