G-20 representatives gathering in Seoul, South Korea, are relieved they no longer need to pretend caring for the world’s poor, economist William Easterly writes in a satirical piece for the blog “Aid Watch.”
Easterly writes: “‘Thank goodness for all the grave problems the rich countries face,’ said one anonymous and technically fictitious official. ‘Now we can stick to things we actually care about.’”
The economist mentions another fictitious representative: “[I]t’s been exhausting every year since Gleneagles in 2005, going through hours of discussion to come up with enough meaningless actions to show our deep empathy for the global poor.”
“Our statements always stressed the sufferings of those people,” the fictional official continued, “but we were suffering too, working far into the night and often missing gala dinners to negotiate the details of the promises that we never intended to keep.”
