Now that the G8 summit has passed, amidst terrible bombings in London, everyone is talking about how to help Africa (a topic that seems to pop up every few years). Of course, as always, we have our friends in Hollywood telling us how things should be, with a new campaign called One. Not to mention the Live8 concerts that happened all around the world, reminding everyone that we are bad people for letting Africa become the way it is.

But is the answer to Africa's problems more money, like these celebrities seem to think? Is Bono really on to something aside from making terrible music? Or is this just another vain attempt by the celebrity elite to appear humane, and to make Bush and America look selfish and uncaring?

The truth is that President Bush has tripled funding to Africa during his term as president, and has just agreed to up it a little more on the request of our friend Tony Blair. But the answer is not to give money to the country, because we've done that in the past and everything is the same. No, the answer is to help the country flourish in the best ways possible: through industry, democracy, and capitalism.

The One Campaign, a new Hollywood marketing racket brought to you by the same folks who speak out on everything, offers this solution: the United States should give 1% of its national budget to Africa. Team America is right, these people need to be shot! Thanks George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Nelson Mandella for that great insight on how to fix a problem. They want us to send $25 Billion dollars over there to that money pit, just so it can be squandered and spent by the tyrants, dictators, and gang lords that control most of the poorest countries. That's more money than we give NASA! It's this sort of wanton charity call that costs Americans money with little to no result.

The Live8 Campaign had a similar message, which was to give tons and tons of money to Africa. This time, however, they got gaggles of bands to play all around the world, while they show pictures of sick kids next to pictures of leaders in the G8 Summit. They effectively sent the message that these leaders are to blame for these kids being sick and hungry. And while I was happy to hear that Geldof (the Live8 organizer) said "No Bush bashing!", there were enough mixed messages sent out by these images to make people think these countries and leaders are rich, evil white guys.

These "artists" have a poor understanding of the situation over there. Bono can visit the President all he likes and compliment Bush just to win him over, but changing Africa isn't going to come with raised donations. But how do we do it? How do we bring this beautiful continent out of the "jungle", so to speak, and into the healthy real world?

Well firstly, you have to remove the dictators, terrorists, and gang lords that run those countries. Any aid given to the countries goes right into the palaces and armies of the tyrants that run them. The only way that help reaches those people is through missionaries, and I don't think all these actors in Hollywood are ready to throw down their scripts and race to feed kids. But once these evil leaders are removed, and proper and just governments are elected, then the first steps to well-being are accomplished.

The next step is to enter the world market. The only way to bring people out of poverty and terrible living conditions is to trade, invest, and build up your economy. Africa is full of so many natural resources that could be developed, traded, and sold to other nations. Get rid of the gangs that control the diamond mines and bring in real, honest companies to mine that majesty and immediately you will see the markets change over there. There is also oil and other natural resources in Africa that can not only be sold to other countries, but also help to rebuild the ruined cities and countries on the continent. If you industrialize and enter into a capitalist society, things are going to turn around for the better. This certainly isn't something that's going to happen quickly, and it would take generations of people to make the change into the modern world (if that is something the people of Africa even desire), but it would certainly work better than throwing money at the problem.

A good example of what I'm talking about can be found in South Korea, a once communist strong hold liberated during World War II and the Korean War, it's now flourishing thanks to democracy and capitalism. It's capital, Seoul, is one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world. The country is currently a front-runner in the research of cloning and human DNA. Other examples of the free market working are India, which has managed to raise itself up thanks to some globalization and job creation; South Africa, which is one of the most modern countries in Africa; and many of the South American countries, which are doing very well thanks to sugar trade and tourism. It's a system that can work, and has worked in the past.

I'm not saying all money given to the continent is a bad thing, because there are some nations there that have good governments, but just plain need money. However, a $25 Billion dollar whim isn't something that's going to be put to the best of uses with a good market and a reliable government to back it up.