African poverty and global warming, the twin enthusiasms of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, are quests made for the modern officeholder. One appeals to the public's sympathy and the other to its fear, but each has one thing in common: It diverts the public's mind from things the politicians control, like war, to causes in which what matters are appearances and intentions.

Start with Africa. In the 45 years since most of its countries became independent, sub-Saharan Africa has absorbed half a trillion dollars in aid in today's money. This attempt at continental uplift was a kind of experiment. No country had ever become rich and successful that way.

What was the result of aid? "A road, a dorm, a school, a bank, a bridge, a cultural center, a dispensary — all were accepted," wrote Paul Theroux in his travel memoir "Dark Star Safari" (2003). "They were like inspired Christmas presents, the things that stop running when the batteries die."

The response of the G-8 countries was to demand that aid be used more wisely, and to offer to double it.

Last week, an economist in Kenya told an interviewer: Stop sending us aid. In the hands of African politicians, aid corrupts; in the hands of the Western do-gooders, it creates a new class of philanthropic overlords, described by Theroux as young foreigners tooling around in air-conditioned Land Rovers.

At home, the young foreigners have been attending Bob Geldof's Live 8 concerts. The message of these concerts, said Simon Jenkins in the London Times, was, "Fill up on McCartney and Madonna and you will feel much better." Feeling was the currency of the day, and politicians know how to bask in it.

A different feeling — fear — is at work in the issue of global warming. But it has this one thing in common with aiding Africa: It is a cause in which appearances count more than results.

Is the globe warming? It seems so. Can politicians do anything about it? The ones who support the idea want us to think they can, but so far, their focus is mostly on gestures and efforts.

Their cause is the Kyoto Protocol, which set national targets for six types of greenhouse-gas emissions. Europe agreed to cut its emissions 8 percent between 1990 and 2012; Japan, 7 percent; Canada, 6 percent. If the United States had accepted it, we would have promised a 7-percent cut.

The nations that accepted the Kyoto Protocol could not agree on enforcement, so there isn't any. In that sense, the protocol is like the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement organized by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. It is a statement of intentions only.

And the result of Kyoto? There are some efforts to lower emissions, but Japan and Canada will miss their targets. Some EU countries may meet them because they closed down old socialist factories in the East, but fast-growing Ireland and Spain will miss them.

China has no target — nor do India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. They have now agreed to talk; meanwhile, they build trucks, cars and superhighways, their people yearn to drive, oil is $60 a barrel and the sea level has risen 1 inch in 10 years.

The global-warming crusade is not going to work — not because the science is bad, but because people will not give up as much as the science asks of them. Imagine your government telling you: Stop driving your car because the oceans have risen 1 inch in 10 years. Will you do it?

With the Africa issue, there is a way out. If you want to help Africans, buy their products. Are young Africans in sweatshops? Buy their products. Wages rise when factories hum. If our politicians want to help Africa, they might stop blocking African products with subsidies and quotas.

For global warming, one might plant a tree, buy a hybrid vehicle or invest in a windmill. These are all fine things, and may slow down global warming a tiny bit. But it may be that the things humanity is willing to do are not enough. Maybe it's not worth stopping. Maybe we live with it.

The men who rule us need to maintain the illusion that they have our future in their hands. On some matters, like starting wars, they do. On others they don't, and though it is not profitable for them to say so, it behooves us to remember it.

Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com