1.27.2005
Chirac Urges Taxes to Help World's Poor (Forbes.com--AP)
26 January 2005
French President Jacques Chirac called on the world's richest nations Wednesday to provide billions of dollars in aid for poor countries through new taxes and other measures that would help combat AIDS, poverty and natural disasters.
He said the tsunami that struck Asian coastlines last month - possibly killing up to 300,000 people - should trigger not only aid to that region but a broader coordinated drive by developed nations to reach out to the Third World.
"The world suffers chronically from what has been strikingly called the 'silent tsunamis.' Famine. Infectious diseases that decimate the life force of entire continents," Chirac said in a video message from Paris to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The annual meeting, in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, has taken on increased importance in recent years as globalization and common threats - from terrorism to increased vulnerability to natural disasters - have made the world's nations and governments more dependent on each other.
Chirac alluded to such interdependence, saying that natural disasters, political unrest, uncontrolled migration and extremism are "breeding grounds for terrorism" - suggesting developed nations had a stake in resolving the problem.
The French leader outlined a number of steps to raise billions of dollars through taxes on international financial transactions, plane tickets or fuel used by airliners and oceangoing vessels.
(More ... Forbes.com | Home | News & Analysis | Chirac Urges Taxes to Help World's Poor) ¶ 10:30
French President Jacques Chirac called on the world's richest nations Wednesday to provide billions of dollars in aid for poor countries through new taxes and other measures that would help combat AIDS, poverty and natural disasters.
He said the tsunami that struck Asian coastlines last month - possibly killing up to 300,000 people - should trigger not only aid to that region but a broader coordinated drive by developed nations to reach out to the Third World.
"The world suffers chronically from what has been strikingly called the 'silent tsunamis.' Famine. Infectious diseases that decimate the life force of entire continents," Chirac said in a video message from Paris to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The annual meeting, in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, has taken on increased importance in recent years as globalization and common threats - from terrorism to increased vulnerability to natural disasters - have made the world's nations and governments more dependent on each other.
Chirac alluded to such interdependence, saying that natural disasters, political unrest, uncontrolled migration and extremism are "breeding grounds for terrorism" - suggesting developed nations had a stake in resolving the problem.
The French leader outlined a number of steps to raise billions of dollars through taxes on international financial transactions, plane tickets or fuel used by airliners and oceangoing vessels.
(More ... Forbes.com | Home | News & Analysis | Chirac Urges Taxes to Help World's Poor) ¶ 10:30
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Fun blog- I like it.
Clearly something needs to be done to address the way the "world" pays for this sort of thing- be in relief or development or whatever.
But I must admit I am horrified by a "tax" going to fund un-elected and unrepresentative organizations. A good 40% of the UN member states are either poor or corrupt or dictatorships or both- and I am not supporting my tax dollars being spent by representatives of Libya, Cuba, Nigeria or North Korea.
Chirac just glosses over these issues. I don't think he's serious mind you. I think this is just for domestic consumption for the French left- who seriously believe in this one world fantasy.
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Clearly something needs to be done to address the way the "world" pays for this sort of thing- be in relief or development or whatever.
But I must admit I am horrified by a "tax" going to fund un-elected and unrepresentative organizations. A good 40% of the UN member states are either poor or corrupt or dictatorships or both- and I am not supporting my tax dollars being spent by representatives of Libya, Cuba, Nigeria or North Korea.
Chirac just glosses over these issues. I don't think he's serious mind you. I think this is just for domestic consumption for the French left- who seriously believe in this one world fantasy.
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