Vote!
Was the lavish hospitality at the G8 an insult to the world's poor?
- 81% are saying yes
- 19% are saying no
comments from readers
- IrritatedofTonbridge
08 July 2008 - yes
Or better still make the fat bastards share some of pie
- Carl Jones
08 July 2008 - no
Sad question, you`d think the Newstatesman had better to offer than this.
- Karl Jones LoL
08 July 2008 - no
Very sad.
- swatantra nandanwar
08 July 2008 - no
What, and eat raw fish and seaweed when there was nothing else on the menu to their taste, probably not. What should have happened was a day of fasting for everyone; cabbage soup, bread and water with a touch of lime, and tea.
- explodingbadger
09 July 2008 - no
What a hilarious idea. Are they 5 year old children ?
I think the person who thought of this doesn't realise in other cultures finishing the all food means you want some more!!
- Peter Griffiths
09 July 2008 - yes
Bigger troughs for all . . . leaders.
- Dr. Frans B. Roos, PHD
09 July 2008 - yes
It is not an insult to the poor, it is worse, it is kicking the poor smack in the fase with the pointed shoes of these so called leaders while the poor are laying prostrate caused by lack of nutrition.
- blencathra
09 July 2008 - no
You don't insult those who you wish to influence.
- Carl Jones
09 July 2008 - yes
Changed question and better for it. The G8 are an insult to humanity, for they are responsible for the food crisis, they feed corrupt banks limitless credit lines, they play havoc with our weather using advanced technology and they continue to make illegal wars so they can line their pockets.
- AdrianCruden
10 July 2008 - yes
How dare Gordon Brown tell us "You'll have had your tea" and then go off for his own.
- ade
10 July 2008 - no
Starving the rich won't feed the poor: too few of the former, too many of the latter.
- anglicus
10 July 2008 - yes
It's always been this way.
- suell
11 July 2008 - yes
YES! Ppoliticians and 'heads of state' should always 'walk the talk' and lead by example.
Sue Lloyd
- Moyesy
11 July 2008 - no
I can see the point of the 'yes' voters however, why are we even talking about their meal? Isn't it the issue of the world's poor that needs discussing? Surely talking about their meal is just our way of distracting ourselves from a very difficult issue - we cant blame one figure for world hunger so we choose to pick at the meal had by our leaders. Yes it is symbolic of the ridiculous excess which engulfs western culture but no - it is not going to make much difference to the remedying of the issue - the G8 were adding to this remedy in their discussions, that is the most important thing.
- MartynInEurope
11 July 2008 - yes
Why does hospitality have to be lavish?
- William
11 July 2008 - no
portions were 2 small & unedible
- William
11 July 2008 - yes
Reminiscent of 'The Ofpis File' don't ya know.
- no arms
11 July 2008 - yes
Should we redefine the term 'world leaders'? (most G8 members are men, so no need to change the name of the New StatesMAN), who benefit from an economic value system that is designed by them to work in their favour and ensure they continue to be perceived as be 'rich' and 'powerful'. No matter how hungry I get I was born equal and my 'leaders' are many from various backgrounds, and I often take on this role myself. Who leads these so called leaders?. Geldof and Bozo are both hypocrites by the way. How big are the crumbs on their table.
- Broga
11 July 2008 - yes
I vote yes but with understanding for their plight. Putting politicians in front of a lavish, free meal and expecting them to refuse it would be like putting pigs in front of an overflowing trough. Then let them preach to rest of us on the virtues of frugality and eating our crusts and the are in hog heaven. It would be unfair to expect these self selected and sanctimonious hypocrites to resist.
- Pujan
12 July 2008 - yes
ITS A DEFINITE YES!!!!! They call themselves " group of eight( G8)". What they should call themselves is " Group of nations who go around blaming other countries about pollution and food crisis and not giving a DAMN that it are they who cause 70% of the pollution worldwide!!!)" I agree that the lavish Hospitality was an insult because when the rest of the world in embroiled in a battle against food crisis and proverty, HOW DARE THEY waste money and food for the sake of enjoyment of those hypocrites who are there to solve such problem ( and incidentally the didn't do a thing nor come to an agreement )
- steffaction
13 July 2008 - yes
along with all the other insults.
- nawawimohamad
13 July 2008 - yes
It is not only an insult but also adding salt to the wound.
- roger tanneau
13 July 2008 - yes
Hypocritical and insensitive in view of Brown's recent nonsencical comments
- writeon
13 July 2008 - yes
The lavish quality of the meal was symbolic of the underlying realities of the world, not the fancy rhetoric. Basically we want to have are cake and eat it. Our leaders do not care about the poor or the hungry. The poor are expendable. They are a form of collatoral damage. A side effect of the free market system that is sovereign. The poor will always be with us util we replaced marketism with a socially just system.
- OSKIES
14 July 2008 - yes
why o why does gorden
- Helen Heenan
14 July 2008 - no
The real insult is the lack of political will to make meaningful changes in the global economy.
14 July 2008- no
No - it just reflects the lack of sensitivity of our rulers towards the poor (remember that G8Countries also have their poor, the condition is not restricted to Africa and the developing countries). To be fair, the G8 leaders have promised more aid (a transfer of money from their poor people to others - our taxation systems can hardly be said to affect the rich of any country, it is the poor who pay). It is about time that firm conditions are made to aid payments, the developing countries should take immediate steps to control their population growth otherwise, if African, Indian etc. populations continue to grow, we'll all be starving!
Alan Briggs
- tinalouise
14 July 2008 - yes
Riiculous behaviour that trivialises and prioritises the wrong way round.
Namaste,
Tina Louise - mccardigan@aol.com
15 July 2008 - yes
It really is Orwellian, they are all merging into one politically, us and them. Disgusting.
- Ned_Kelly
15 July 2008 - yes
g8 is an insult to the world's poor itself
- Leila Singh
15 July 2008 - yes
Simply put, the in-you-face "G8" reminds me of former arrogant "colonizers" they are: one and the same bunch of "Global Scammers!" Thank you.
- Janie M
15 July 2008 - yes
Its the same old story from the G8 leaders, all talk, no action
- Nathalie
25 July 2008 - yes
Why do we need these rich people to meet? Why not include the poor countries so that they can tell the G8 rich ones what is it that they need? How can G8 know, for crying out loud!?
