Sir, - Fintan Clancy (May 3rd) completely misses the point about the issues raised by the anti-capitalist May Day protests around the world. Capitalism, far from being the solution to world poverty, is actually the main source of this problem. Debt is the life-blood of capitalism, yet debt is crushing the lives of billions of the world's poorest peoples.
Financial institutions in the developed world have no intention of ever cancelling the unpayable debt of developing countries, despite the transparently cosmetic debt relief initiatives announced in recent years. After all, why squander a nice little earner?
To cancel the debts of the developing world would be a repudiation of capitalism, which cannot survive for long without the creation and servicing of debt, regardless of the consequences of this on the health of human beings. Only by looking beyond capitalism will it be possible to even conceive of effective strategies for reducing poverty and environmental degradation.
Hanging on to the notion that capitalism, globalisation and unrestricted global trade will ever help lift the majority out of the misery of poverty is ideologically induced wishful thinking - and it wastes thousands of lives every day. - Yours, etc.,
Ciaran McKenna, Greenville Place, Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.