So here it is - my first blog. I had fully intended for my first blog to be a little something about myself and how I managed to get myself where I am today. But I stumbled across this article and couldn't resist sharing it. The article is sharing the G8 - G20 summit's ability to win a spoof award from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. These spoof awards, also known as Teddies, are awarded to acknowledge the largest money sinks provincially, federally and municipally. The federal teddy was awarded to those who organized the G8 - G20 summit. The total estimate for this completely necessary event? A billion dollars.
It is amazing that as a Western society we are capable of spending this much money on a summit intended for global development and to discuss government over - spending. Let's face it, the real purpose behind the G8: to gather the richest/most powerful countries to have a pre - meeting to a meeting with the slightly less rich countries to predetermine what it is we want to accomplish at the G20. The entire thing is a colossal waste of money, representing only the interesting of the eight present. Why is the G8 necessary in the first place? There is no reason these eight countries should have a meeting of their own before letting "lesser" countries to the table. Imagine the cost reduction in simply eliminating the G8.
Then there is the issue of equality. Equal representation at these summits has always been a fierce topic of debate. The rich countries hold the money and therefore the power..... so they should make the decisions? (That's how it would appear). Why not let those who experience development and its corresponding issues have a voice of their own? If we have so much money burning a hole in our pockets that we can afford to spend a billion dollars on a summit for twenty countries then why not invite everyone? It can't be "us and them" anymore. As we enter the 21st century we need to realize we our issues are global and we all need to work together.
Canada is suppose to be the "helpers" on the global stage but we are just drowning in the politics of development issues. We need to re - evaluate: instead of wasting large quantities of money on meetings about the issues its time we start to address the issues or potentially start holding up our end of agreements we have previously made. The Kyoto Protocol is a perfect example - but that is another issue for another day.
If you wanted to have a read for yourself: G8 - G20 Named Most Wasteful Spending
Perhaps world leaders can consider doing a world-wide teleconference? That way, no one has to travel, which is better for the environment. No one has to host, which will cut down on costs. And there would be very few security concerns - though they would have to keep an eye out for those pesky hackers.
ReplyDeleteI agree that maybe it has been ineffective to have these meetings in the past, but I don't think the solution is to do away with the G8 and G20 altogether. There is a reason why these meetings are important, even if we might not like them. By virtue of having all of the most powerful nations in the world gather together to talk about these issues, a real message is sent to the world. While it would be nice to invite everyone to the table, it simply isn't feasible and to be honest Gabon isn't exactly going to have a huge stake in the world's future development. It may become a reality to invite all of these countries eventually, but for now I don't see a problem with letting 'the big guns' try and talk it out. Maybe we shouldn't be spending a billion dollars, but I think we should still be meeting.
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