rüteli rüteli rüteli ...
Mr.
Gates, could a computer-game whose
method and goal would be to achieve PEACE
become a best-seller?
Where am I? I was invited as a
special guest of the WORLD ECONOMIC
FORUM in Davos, Switzerland in order
to present my idea of a CREATIVE
CAPITALISM.
Well,
in principle, we are on the way to Davos.
But, you see, the resort is not really
accessible; a lot of uninvited people are
on the roads. We thought it a splendid
idea to get you on this train. No
forum-opponent will have a hunch that you
travel on this historic dinner-carriage
of the Rhätische Bahn, Mr.
Gates. And as railway-fans we know, of
course, that an early example of creative
capitalism is rolling here in Davos
over narrow-gauge tracks.
rüteli rüteli rüteli ...
REGIE!
Weblink zur Rhätischen Bahn
bitte!
Jan Willem Holsboer,
an immigrant from Holland, called in 1872
for an initiative to build a railway line
between Landquart and Davos. The first
draft of his project suggested a standard
gauge; it was skipped because of the
tremendous cost. Holsboers next
proposal suggested a narrow gauge; the
budget was five million Franken. On 22nd
April, 1887, the concession was given; on
7th February, 1888 the joint-stock
company Schmalspurbahn
Landquart-Davos was founded in
Basel. Construction was finalized in
1890; service started on 21st July, 1890.
With a length of 375 kilometres, the
Rhätische Bahn touches all major valleys
of the canton of Graubünden.
rüteli rüteli rüteli ...
Is this a licensed Windows-Version
that your controller is using?
Please,
Mr Gates, no small-time capitalism! You
have on your mind something much bigger,
isnt it? What is your CREATIVE
CAPITALISM all about? Give us a hint!
Well, creative
capitalism is an
approach where governments, businesses,
and nonprofits work together to stretch
the reach of market forces so that more
people can make a profit, or gain
recognition, doing work that eases the
worlds inequities.
Capitalism as we knew it does not work
well for the poor because there were no
international market incentives to fight
poverty or hunger.
Leaving
aside for a moment the hunch
international markets might have produced
poverty and hunger
What do you
mean by recognition, Mr. Gates?
Recognition
enhances a companys reputation
and appeals to customers; above all, it
attracts good people to the organization.
As such, recognition triggers a
market-based reward for good behaviour.
In markets where profits are not
possible, recognition is a proxy; where
profits are possible, recognition is an
added incentive. Recognition of the good
deeds done by capitalists will build the
markets necessary to bring the poor the
benefits of capitalism, thus ushering in
a new system that I call CREATIVE
CAPITALISM. And to support my conviction
I am going to pledge, here in Davos,
another three hundred and six million
dollar to AGRA.
Wow!
Thats a lot of recognition, by
anyones standards, or as on
would say in your circles: You put
your money where your mouth is!
But, perhaps, it would be wise to wait
for a little moment?
raison raison raison ...
Do you
know Sélingué?
Not?
Just
listen
raison raison raison ...
I dont believe it! I mean, in
my mansion at the lake I got a lot of
virtual toys implemented. For example, if
you would be my guest there, music that
you chose would follow you individually
wherever you walk, without headphones, of
course, but controlled by intelligent
invisible speakers everywhere
But
this here? How are you doing it? Its
not only a different track-noise
It isnt chilly anymore
no
snow, no mountains
instead the
heat of the savannah!
In
addition, it is also a different
conference waiting for you, Mr. Gates:
THE WORLD FORUM FOR
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
Sélingué is a village less than two
hours away from Malis capital
Bamako. This choice was made to allow the
debate on food and agriculture to take
place in a rural and agricultural
context. It is a political choice, which
aims to show the coherence between the
proposals for food sovereignty and the
means necessary to achieve it. This is an
opportunity to show the daily realities
of Mali. Sélingué is situated near a
hydroelectric dam on the river Sankarani,
an affluent of the Niger, close to the
border with Guinea. The dam offers
guaranteed uninterrupted electricity
supply year round which is good since
there will be enough power for this
conference of some six hundred
participants who come from different
parts of the world, of course, with their
notebooks
Please, dont ask again whether all
of their Windows-Programs are licensed
The organisations in Mali wanted to give
the World Forum for Food Sovereignty a
name that would have a meaning to the
farmers of their country. They chose:
NYÉLÉNI
2007
Please, welcome Ibrahim and Oussama, Mr.
Gates. Both are Griots, storytellers and
keepers of traditional wisdom. They are
going to tell us something about the
meaning of the name
I, Ibrahim say ...
In Mali, there is a powerful symbol which
could serve as the symbol of food
sovereignty. Its a woman who left
her mark in the history of Mali, as a
woman and as a great farmer. When you
mention her name, everyone knows what
this name represents. She is the mother
who brings food, the mother who farms,
who fought for her recognition as a woman
in an environment that wasnt
favourable to her. This woman was called
Nyéléni. If we use this symbol,
everyone in Mali will know that its
a struggle for food, a struggle for food
sovereignty.
I, Oussama, say ...
Nyéléni was an only child, which in
Africa was considered a curse. Nyéléni,
as a girl and only child of her parents,
suffered in her youth from all the
mocking her parents were subjected to.
She secretly resolved to remove this slur
that men had cast on her by defeating
them on their own ground, that is to say
agriculture and working of the land.
To every suitor she repeated endlessly
that marriage could wait, that first she
had a mission to accomplish as a homage
to her family, to women, to all women.
This was her priority. Nyéléni took
part in farming competitions and defeated
all the champions with the best
reputation in her village and in the
surrounding region. Her reputation grew.
The more arrogant men would challenge
her, day after day, and to their
disgrace, they were all defeated.
Nyélénis reputation grew beyond
the limits of her region, she became a
living legend. This is the time when her
renown was established and she earned
respect. And so the legend says that it
was at the beginning of winter, which is
the rainy season here, that she
domesticated fonio/angry rice, that
cereal you ate today. Its also
thanks to Nyéléni that we have a
variety of millet called samio, that is
small millet. Nyélénis
father was called Nianso, her mother was
called Saucra, she came from Siracoro.
Unfortunately, history does not tell us
whether one of her suitors ever married
her, and therefore whether she ever had
children. This is the story of Nyéléni.
...
Thanks
to Ibrahim and Oussama for this tale of
Nyéléni
As we understand it, Mr. Gates, you are
the owner of CORBIS, the biggest
picture-agency in the world.
Unfortunately, a portrait of Nyéléni
wont be available at COBRIS but
perhaps one of this woman-activist:
Mariam Mayet. The Mali-hero was no
ancestor to her, but she matches her
spirit. PAMBAZUKA NEWS asks her on our
behalf.
MARIAM MAYET:
We are based in Joburg
and we have four main programs. We
campaign against genetic engineering in
food and agriculture. We campaign against
bio-piracy particularly the theft of
indigenous knowledge in the context of
medicinal plants and new areas around
marine bio prospecting. We also work on
the green revolution in Africa and
Agro-fuels. Basically, we do a lot of
cutting edge research, exposes of what
multi-national companies are doing in
Africa, and on the bio-tech industry. We
look at the seed industry and where the
GM-Agro fuels push is coming from. We
work with a large network of other groups
and communities.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Lets turn our
attention to philanthropy, which Cecil
Rhodes once called, philanthropy plus
five-percent which is to say that
philanthropy paves way for profit making,
or what others call the
philanthropy-industrial complex. Can you
talk a little about the role of Western
philanthropy in Africa?
MARIAM MAYET: Philanthropy in Africa has
some history especially in relation to
the Rockefeller family. The Rockefeller
foundation has a much longer history than
the Gates Foundation for example. Gordon
Conway who became one of the presidents
of the Rockefeller Foundation published a
book called the New Green Revolution in
1999. The Green Revolution push we are
seeing in Africa is really his
brainchild. Their philanthropy has come
in the context of pushing a very distinct
corporate agenda to open markets
for US corporations. For example in Kenya
the Rockefeller Foundation has been
involved in sponsoring Florence Wambugus
sweet potato project because they want to
open Africa up to GMOs. So if you give
the impression that a genetically
modified sweet potato can work because it
is the poor persons crop, there
will be more willingness to accept GMOs.
So it is not philanthropy. Its a
form of investment, a corporatized agenda
for resource extraction from Africa.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: There was an expose in
the LA Times on the Bill Gates Foundation
where it was found that the foundation
invests money in companies
and corporations that cause the very same
problems it is trying to solve, companies
such as Shell. So the philanthropy arm is
trying to save the environment, while the
investment arm is making profit from its
destruction
MARIAM MAYET: Exactly, the Rockefellers
made their money from Exon, which later
became Chevron so they have old
oil money this wrecked a whole lot
of havoc environmentally and in terms of
human rights.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: And also the idea of
telescopic philanthropy, a telescopic
philanthropy that sees far but not what
is under its feet for example
there are a lot problems in the United
States amongst minority communities
MARIAM MAYET: Yes, why didnt they
give money to Hurricane Katrina victims?
Why do they feel they have to come and
rescue Africa? We say that the Green
Revolution is a white mans dream
for a black continent. And this dream
this saviour mentality is very
missionary, very colonial, and
imperialistic and yes they should
leave us alone. If they take away all the
developmental aid, if they take all the
food aid, and the military aid we
would be like Cuba. We would struggle for
a while but eventually we would find our
way. We would build our own local
economies and vibrancy because all these
development aid is also an industry unto
itself, and it feeds off itself.
Who are the worlds biggest
agri-business players? Take Cargil, which
owns shares in seed companies, buys the
harvest from farmers and transports it
all over the world they are more
powerful than some governments because
they are in charge of the
international prices of grains and trade
in grains. You have to really understand
this whole capitalist agri-business
system in order to understand the logic
of the green revolution.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: AGRA, according to its
website, is and African-led
partnership working across the African
continent to help millions of small-scale
farmers and their families lift
themselves out of poverty and hunger.
AGRA programs develop practical solutions
to significantly boost farm productivity
and incomes for the poor while
safeguarding the environment. AGRA
advocates for policies that support its
work across all key aspects of the
African agricultural value chain
from seeds, soil health, and water to
markets and agricultural education. AGRA
is chaired by Kofi A. Annan, the former
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
They say that they are African led and
now they have Kofi Annan who is serving
as the chairman of AGRA your
response?
MARIAM MAYET: I think they are African
followed because the vision was put in
place by Gordon Conway from the
Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller
Foundation brought in the Bill-Melinda
Gates foundation, then started to recruit
willing and compliant Africans the
coup de grace was Kofi Annan. If it was
African led we would not be asking for
consultation and transparency. It would
be coming from our farmers, coming from
the ground-up. What is African led, are
the local struggles, where people are
clearly saying this is what we want. Go
to speak to the
people affected and they will tell you
what they want that would be
African led.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can you talk a little bit
about the packaging of AGRA? You have
Kofi Annan, who has UN credentials,
gentle spoken yet charismatic and Bill
Gates who appears harmless. There is a
lot of star power and money
MARIAM MAYET: The things is the Green
Revolution is a very a violent package
because it puts powerful toxic chemicals
into Africa. It displaces and destroys
local knowledge and seeds. It favours
those farmers who will be able to access
the system, the more powerful farmers.
This will divide the African peasantry.
AGRA also creates a lot of dependency and
debt. It is violent. But the geeky sexy
richest man who brought us wonderful
technology, and gentle Kofi Annan
this is the saviour face, our last hope.
It is a very strategic move to push a
very agri-business, corporatized market
driven package but it will fail in
Africa because they do not understand
Africa.
tazara tazara tazara ...
Can we, please, have also our say?
I mean, since we are forced to follow all
moves of this train
The one or the other may want to express
an opinion
How much do they want to deal out? One
hundred and fifty million dollar?
Plus three hundred and six million from
the privy purse of this nice Mr. Gates!
Altogether four hundred and fifty-six
million dollar ...
No small business anymore! Where can I
get such mini-packs with improved seeds
and fertilizer for re-sale, Mr.
Rockefeller?
tazara tazara tazara ...
CREATIVE CAPITALISM?
Mr. Moon likes it. How did one of his
predecessors put it?
NO MATTER
WHETHER A CAT IS BLACK OR WHITE
THE MAIN THING IS
IT CATCHES MICE!
Mr. Moons third brief for me is: to
find out the direction of this
AGRA-Express. For that, it may be helpful
to distinguish the MISSION from the JOB.
AGRAs Mission,
as far as I understood:
To work in partnership
across the African continent
to help millions of small-scale farmers
and their families
lift themselves out of poverty and
hunger.
AGRAs Job,
as far as I understood:
To bring Africas poor
into the international market.
Here, they will consume both
Hybrid and genetically-modified seeds,
fertilizers and agrochemicals.
They will also consume
the products of these seeds,
making their diet dependent on the
companies
driving the Green Revolution.
AGRAs final goal,
as far as I now understand:
Whoever can establish
these seed markets in Africa
will control
not only the markets,
but the food,
and ultimately
the ground
of the vast continent ...
Mr. Moon wont like that! For him it
does not matter whether a cat is black or
white either, but the mice he wants to
catch by himself!
tazara tazara tazara ...
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