Clinton to dedicate life to redistributing world's wealth

The Age (Australia) ^ | 02/27/2002 | Barbara Adam

[Pokey78]

Former US president Bill Clinton today vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to helping redistribute the world's wealth.

At his fourth Australian speaking engagement, Mr Clinton said prosperous nations including Australia and the United States held the key to the world's future.

He said it would cost America $US2.5 billion ($A4.87 billion) to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's request for an extra $US10 billion ($A19.47 billion) to fight AIDS and other infections diseases.

"For us, you know what that is?" he asked the $1,100-a-head charity dinner in Melbourne for the Microsurgery Foundation.

"Two-and-a-half months of the Afghan war, and about one tenth of one per cent of the federal budget.

"That's it.

"There are 40 million AIDS cases a day and if we don't do something about it, there will be 100 million AIDS cases a day."

Mr Clinton said Australians needed to identify with people of poorer nations.

"If we can, then our children will have the most peaceful and prosperous and the most interesting and fun time in all of human history," he said.

"I'm going to do what I can for the rest of my life to make that happen, and I hope you will too.

The 42nd president of the United States said Australians should not be afraid of change, or of people who were different.

Such fears had resulted in the assassinations of Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Israeli President Yitzak Rabin and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"We are struggling to find a balance in our two countries to not just tolerate people who are different, but actually venerate those differences, respect them, celebrate them, in the context of our common humanity," he said.

In a direct reference to the Howard government's woes, Mr Clinton also warned Australia needed to pull its weight in addressing global warming or the refugee crisis would get worse.

"If the world warms in the next 50 years as it has done in the last 10, ...agricultural production will be disrupted across the globe," he said.

"You'll have literally millions upon millions of food refugees, leading to more violence, more disruption and more boatloads of refugees that you will have to face."

[GOPJ]

Bill Clinton today vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to helping redistribute the world's wealth.

Here's how it works:

Corrupt dictators take money from their poor in hellhole countries ...

then give BIG donations to Clinton and his ilk...

in return the corrupt dictators receive billions from the US taxpayer...

money that goes to the corrupt dictator.

Clinton's have been 'redistributing' wealth to themselves for a long time...

[dfwgator]

“Wait a tic...blimey, this redistribution of wealth is trickier than I thought.”