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The Year of Jubilee

They did not ask to be in debt,
These poorest of the poor.
Yet interest piles up year on year,
And still we ask for more.
Health and education cut,
To pay back what they owe.
And all of our repayment plans
Just decrease their cash flow.

But how, at first, did they begin
To owe us all this cash?
And why, oh why, did lending cause
This massive global mess?
Our banks were rich with oil wealth
And knew not what to do.
They lent it irresponsibly.
They didn't have a clue.

Corruption, waste, stupidity
Used quite a lot of debt.
Pres. Mobutu of Zaire
Stole all that he could get.
Projects vastly overrated
Big and vast, great and grand.
Hydro-electric dams were built
Which forced the poor to leave their land.

Loans tied in to sale of arms
And other dodgy stuff.
Caring where the money went
Might well have been enough.
And then a double whammey blow
We raised our western interest rate
And slashed the prices of their goods
Oh, what a sorry state.

And now there are Adjustment Plans
Tied in to debt relief
So they must change their ways to ours
And do just as we please.
The debt repayments dwarf the aid
We send to help them grow.
As long as HIPC stays in place
Relief will be too slow.

What then, can we, so very few
Do to help them out?
Repay the billions by ourselves?
We have not got the clout.
Yet we can lobby governments,
G8, not just our own.
To help the poor write off the debt.
Destroy the power of the loan.

The Bible had the idea first.
Proclaim the Jubilee
And now, today, take up the call
Proclaim the year of Jubilee.
A simple, but effective plan.
Write off the poor man's debt.
Give every man an equal start
And see what we will get.

A just and fair society
Where all are free to give.
Cancelled debt is just the start
So that the poor may live.
The Jubilee, the Jubilee
Still relevant and radical.
An equal chance for one and all.
So, will YOU answer the call?

© Stephen Gray 1999
Deo Gloria