From Morning Star For global solidarity

THE scale of the loss of life and material damage caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami continues to inspire a generous response across the globe.

Charities, relief agencies and concerned people are pulling out all the stops to provide immediate assistance.

Governments have, in the main, responded slowly, with some of the richest, especially Britain and the US, effectively being shamed into raising the level of their aid.

Britain increased its initial pledge of £15 million to £50 million when it became clear that British individuals had already contributed £20 million, but even that higher government figure is still dwarfed by the current £60 million level raised by individual donations.

Tony Blair's war-crime colleagues in Washington reacted initially as though the Indian Ocean tragedy had nothing to do with the US.

The world's richest economy offered a measly $35 million, which is even less of a contribution than it seems, considering that US aid efforts always consist of dispersing domestic grain stockpiles to assist US agribusiness rather than cash donations that would be financially more effective and less destabilising to local agricultural markets.

To put things into perspective, the US president has set aside $40 million to celebrate his inauguration on January 20.

The US Congress has authorised the expenditure of $148 billion on the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, compared with the total of $2.4 billion that it assigned to overseas humanitarian aid for 2004.

Washington has belatedly stepped up aid efforts, seeing a potential propaganda coup in facilitating a change in TV coverage to let US troops be seen assisting the poor of Asia instead of deploying awesome firepower to obliterate Iraqi towns and people.

But the countries and seaboard communities that have suffered so much in recent days don't need one-off donations and political photo-opportunities.

Natural disasters can hit anywhere in the world, but the scale of devastation can differ, depending on relative wealth and social organisation.

Take, for instance, the relatively small loss of life in Cuba compared with Haiti as a result of the recent hurricanes.

The stability of many concrete and stone-built structures in the tsunami-affected areas also contrasts sharply with the levelling of entire communities living in wooden shacks and other flimsy structures.

Poverty and underdevelopment affect not only housing but also roads, communications, food and water resources, medical supplies and the capacity of emergency services to respond.

Many of the countries affected, especially Indonesia, have been prime markets for US arms trafficking and have specialised in repression of regional minorities.

If the resources wasted in these ways had been concentrated on societal development, the effects of this disaster could have been mitigated.

It is not simply a case of giving aid 'after the cameras have gone' but of promoting social justice and global solidarity rather than hostility and capitalist exploitation.