End of Poverty?
You have heard it all before
You have heard it all before. You have heard the stories of starving children and African villages and abandonment and violence and crime and food banks and aid agencies.
Somehow, for many people, it's stopped being sexy and new. And, sadly, in this world, sexy and new is what sells.
Of course, it's all understandable. Can someone who was just fired from a job really care about impoverished people in a foreign country, thousands of miles away?
Not really.
Sure, some people will give to aid agencies, and some of those agencies will be legitimate, but other agencies will not be, and a large percentage of their funding will go off to pay salaries for NGO "Executive Officers" and the like.
And then come the politicians. At the moment, they are the only ones with the tools to change the planet. Despite what U2 may want people to believe, the only power that individuals have to create large-scale change is through putting pressure on politicians.
The only pressure that individuals can exert is through the power of the vote, a power that is extremely significant in the United States and in Western Europe, and increasingly in Eastern Europe and South America.
But politicians rarely feel that pressure. After all, theyspeak to voters about taxes and the economy and they talk about winning wars in foreign lands, but too often theyshrinkfromthe act of doing something to legitimately alleviate global poverty.
Too often, they stop at only words and far-off goals.
And, witha small exception, there is no one to make tem go beyond words and far-off goals.
The United Nations, currentlyassembled for the Millenium Development Goals summit in New York, is one of the few that has any power to bring about radical change.
Of course, the UN has its wings rather effectively contained due to a Security Council that has as permanent and veto-wielding members some of the nations that have done the most, historicallyto exacerbate global poverty.
And any nation that joins that elite group within the Security Council will not use the power for the global good.
Let's be realistic.
So, what solution is there for the global poor?
The UN Secretary General is asking for solid steps and for legitimate action as the world's leaders meet in the world's foremost international body.
His words will be digested by the intended recipients, and then they will be ignored because of a multitude of excuses that, even now, the world's leaders are already drumming up.
The economy is still a solid reason and the foremost nations will argue that they lack the funds to help alleviate global poverty unless they are allowed to do so by adding in extremely high interests to their loans. But right now, when even the United States is not too far removed from looking into loans as a legitimate option, even loans are not a great remedy (as if they ever were).
But to this excuse, and to the countless others that can be thrown at the question of "why won't you help?," there is one powerful reason for why everyone should take part in alleviating global poverty, whether by donations or loans or by support on politicians.
Terrorism and security.
Radical Islam.Maoist Communism.Drug violence. Street gangs.
Central America is currently being held hostage by street gangs. Mexico's violence spread into Texas and Arizona long ago, and there is nothing that a puny little fence will do to stop it. Communist-inspired terrorists continue to be a threat in South America. Religiously-inspired terrorists are still a major presence in Africa and in the Middle East, and through that, around the world.
Some of these terrorists and criminals are wealthy men and have always been wealthy men. The eradication of global poverty will not eradicate terrorism and criminality.
But it will be a major boost toward that goal.
The foot soldiers of terrorist and criminal organizations around the world are almost inevitably poor. Men (and women) without hope for advancement in the legal and legitimate realm of society who listen to a deranged message of violence and hate which explains why they are hopeless and poor in the first place will be the first group of people to seek revenge.
That's the explanation for the terrorists.
For the criminals, it's a lot easier. The would-be criminal is poor and is offered an easy job, or sees an easy opportunity, and then realizes that crime can pay (albeit for a short period of time), and a criminal is born.
Some people will say that these things don't matter, that these explanations are a waste of time, a vague effort to humanize the demonic and the criminal.
But they fail to realize that ignoring these explanations and rationales for violence and criminality is more costly in the long run, both in terms of monetary costs and, far more importantly, in terms of human costs.
Sure, a government can go all Rambo and try to take out every terrorist everywhere on Earth, but that plan doesn't really work in a real-world setting (just ask George W. Bush).
As we learn and progress as a species, we must learn to accept that to end the effects of violence, we must attack not merely the person committing the violence, but the very thing that turned them toward violence in the first place.
It is only the logical next step in the progression of human thought and rationality, and it is the only thing that will do anything significant to quell global terrorism and global crime.
Politicians will never admit it, whether from the right or the left or the center or whereverelse one can look for to find apolitician one agrees with, but it is the truth.
They will never admit it because the plan is long-term, and politicians need easy-to-digest results for voters who think that the universe is small just because their world-view is miniscule.
Voters, however, canmake them accountable for the long-term. Voters can expand their world-view.
Today is the opportunity. With a Democratic presidentin power (and, let's face it, the Democrats do a lot more to alleviate poverty than their Republican counter-parts) and with an economic state that makes every incumbent politician fearthe up-coming election, the United States is in a situation whereinpressure on politicians will actually work.
And where the United States goes, the EU will follow, especially on the issue of fighting global poverty, and ifthe actions taken are serious actions, then South America's risen global powers will throw in their weight andassistance.
The question, of course, remains as to what can be done.
Education isone starting point, but not necessarily the best one. After all, what good is a university degree if there are no jobs?
At which point,companies should be given stronger incentives tobuild plants in developing countries at wages above the miserable rates that the companies are currently offering ineconomic zones inplaces like India and Mexico.
Next would be for theold Security Council system to be thrownout in the United Nations, and for voting rights to fairly represent GDP and population size in the IMF, wherein tiny nations like the Netherlands control morevotes than economic heavy-weights like Brazil.
These changes, and countless more, are being debatedalready in councils around the world, and they will likely be raised in this year's General Assembly summit that started today in the United Nations.
In some nations, there are already active political campaigns to bring them about.
Other nations are even lucky enough to be having elections this year.
In those nations, there are politicians running for office and they come from every political background imaginable, but in some cases, the messages of hatred and of populism are winning the day, as was recently the case in Sweden wherein far-right candidates reached Parliament for the first time ever on a platform of intolerance and economic fear.
In the United States, there are movements in place that seek to do the same as was just done in Sweden.
To the citizens of those nations, assailed by the representatives of resentment and intolerance, under-cut by small-world opinions and short-term goal-setting, there are only two messages that can be given:
Expand your world-view and think in the long-term.
Vote responsibly.
To the delegates and presidents and prime ministers currently at the United Nations who are committed to making this world a better place instead of throwing into the air high-sounding words about change and hope:
Good luck and may you be successful in the Herculean task that awaits you.
To the global poor who are looked down on by aid agencies as things to be baby-sat and who are looked down on by the ignorant as drains on economies:
May it be that one day soon, we shall be able to say to you, "Fear not, for help is finally on the way."
By: Jorge VargasRead more editorials at www.allmediany.com!End of Poverty?By: Rose
Low Testosterone - Low T The Four Best Flies for Trout Broncos WR Kenny McKinley Found Dead Does the Cost of Maintaining a Large Wind Farm Outweigh the Benefits? Centre Seems More Details On Sbi Rights Issue Huawei Has No Military Background Zhengfei 1.42% Stake Add 970.81 For Your Cocaine Poisoning Coding Excellent Penny Shares to Observe Producing your own power Great Toddler Costumes How to tell if you need a courier Villa Kalimaya – for some intimate moments L'oscillation entre la croyance et l'incroyance : Le choix de Stephen Hawking