freedom bits

I am a fan of critical analysis and thinking, of going beyond and below superficial appearances and "what everybody knows." And in some cases, such articles dare to be questioning what most people take for granted based on nothing but percieved political correctness.

One such article by Paul Theroux titled "The Rock Star’s Burden" was recently published by the New York Times. It also got translated to German by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and was published in the Wednesday issue this week under the title "Die Hybris des Mr Hewson".

The German subtitle summary chosen for the German publication roughly translates to "Wanting to do good, but doing bad: Bono and other celebrities are doing more harm to Africa than they are actually helping end the suffering." The article indeed does not lack clarity:

There are probably more annoying things than being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star in a cowboy hat, but I can't think of one at the moment. [...] It seems to have been Africa's fate to become a theater of empty talk and public gestures 

On the base of Mr Theroux’s experience as a teacher in Africa, in particular in Malawi, also using his experience as a travel writer, his article is a response to the Time Magazine award "Persons of the Year 2005" given to Paul David Hewson a.k.a. Bono Vox as well as Bill and Melinda Gates for their engagement in Africa.

Paul Theroux indeed also finds very clear words about the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in Africa:

Mr. Gates has said candidly that he wants to rid himself of his burden of billions. Bono is one of his trusted advisers. Mr. Gates wants to send computers to Africa - an unproductive not to say insane idea. 

So if you haven’t done so already, go and read the article, it is worth it.

But there is another layer to this that Paul Theroux missed or did not want to go into: Not only is the actual work these three are doing essentially useless, in the case of Mr and Mrs Gates it is indeed positively harmful in the medium term, and in the case of Bono it is countermanded and then some by the political engagement of his agent.

I should explain this.

For Bill Gates it is straightforward: Naturally, all machines shipped by Bill Gates are loaded with Microsoft Windows, in other words proprietary software. Like all proprietary software, it remains and puts the user under the control of the proprietor of that software. CNN once quoted Bill Gates in the following way:

"Although about three million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software," Gates reportedly said. "Someday they will, though. And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

What is true for China is also true for Africa. So in his own words, what Mr Gates is doing is addicting the African population and struggling economy to the products of his company. This sounds much like the cigarette industry distributing gratis cigarettes. Others have plainly compared it to the model of drug lords. And since little children always look good on TV, these cigarettes computers preferrentially go to schools in Africa.

In the case of Bono, it gets a little more complicated: Everyone who has been following the WIPO Development Agenda or FSFE’s work at WIPO in general will know a little bit about the global system of limited monopolies such as Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks.

Many people have pointed out that this system is indeed designed in a way to ensure that poor countries remain poor. Louise Szente from South Africa described it in the "Study on Intellectual Property Rights, the Internet, and Copyright of the UK Commission on Intellectual Property with the following words:

Woe is the life of the modern day student living in 'Darkest Africa' for obviously we are still being kept in the slave quarters of the world. Harsh words? My friends, try and live in a society where such Acts as the Intellectual Property Acts of the world impedes your advancement in life." 

And once starting to look into these issues, one quickly notices a rampant extremism, one that only benefits two groups: the so-called rights-holding industry and a few superstars. Everyone else loses. And the poorer you are, the more you lose in relation. In case you hadn’t noticed: Africa is indeed very poor at the moment.

Bono Vox is a superstar. Through his agent he pushes for ever more Copyright, ever longer monopolies, ever stronger enforcement. His name is used by the record industry to push for more, more, more.

In case you are interested in some background on the big picture, check out Information Feudalism by Peter Drahos and John Braithwaite in which they describe how the "Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)" agreement came to pass. And in case you wonder where all this is headed, check out FSFE’s IPRED2 information page. But while IPRED2 is (still) European only, much of this legislation in fact happens on a global level, so it also affects Africa.

In essence: thanks to the life-long work of all three "Persons of the Year 2005," no matter how much money you pump into the region in the form of donations or governmental development programs, much of it will be quickly transferred out of country to the rights-holders, be they proprietary software companies or big music business.

Therefore I would like to thank Mr Paul Theroux for daring to question what superficially seems like a good idea, good enough at least to fool the TIME Magazine. As far as Bono is concerned, I hope he will one day concede that he has enough money and use his political influence to help change the system that holds Africa and the rest of the world in its grip. Mr Bill Gates will hopefully give his money without dictating a choice that leads nowhere but into dependency. And the TIME Magazine will maybe one day recognize the role of people like Richard Stallman, who surely is not as photogenic, but whose lifelong work contributed more to the overall improvement and benefit of humankind than that of anyone else I know.

I know these may be unrealistic wishes, but heck, it is Christmas and I really tried being a good boy. 😉