1. TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER, TITLE & PAGE NUMBER
PAGE
CHAPTER TITLE
NO.
PREFACE 5
CHAPTER 1A A PRELUDE 11
CHAPTER 1B “TOWARDS A HAPPIER WORLD, OUR MISSION 12
SHOULD BEGIN NOW”
CHAPTER 2A A PRELUDE 17
CHAPTER 2B THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF THE 20TH 21
CENTURY, CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST
CENTURY AND BEYOND
CHAPTER 3A A PRELUDE 28
CHAPTER 3B FROM GOLF GREENS TO EARTH FRIENDLY 43
GREENS, LET US PLANT MORE TREES IN THE
NEW MILLENNIUM
CHAPTER 4A A PRELUDE 51
CHAPTER 4B TALKING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES, LET US 60
HOPE THAT THE [UNITED] ‘STATES’ DO NOT
START ASKING FOR SEPARATE STATEHOOD,
WE WANT TO SEE NO MORE SOCIAL
DISINTEGRATION OR ETHNIC CLEANSING, WE
WANT TO SEE PEACE
CHAPTER 5A A PRELUDE 63
CHAPTER 5B THE WORLD AS IT IS 85
CHAPTER 6A A PRELUDE 91
CHAPTER 6B SEXUAL REVOLUTION IN INDIA – A MYTH OR 93
A REALITY
CHAPTER 7A A PRELUDE 99
CHAPTER 7B FROM BLUE REVOLUTIONS TO GREEN 141
REVOLUTIONS
CHAPTER 8A A PRELUDE 148
1
2. PAGE
CHAPTER TITLE
NO.
CHAPTER 8B ONLY VISIONARY MANAGERS CAN DREAM 149
OF DREAM- VILLAGES
CHAPTER 9A A PRELUDE 159
CHAPTER 9B OUR CREDO SHOULD BE: LET US HELP A 163
VISUALLY HANDICAPPED MAN CROSS THE
STREET
CHAPTER 10A A PRELUDE 167
CHAPTER 10B THEY ARE NOT OF MY CASTE, CREED OR 170
RACE, NEVER MIND, HELP!
CHAPTER 11A A PRELUDE 172
CHAPTER 11B FROM GOD’S CHILDREN TO THE CHILD 188
CHAPTER 12A A PRELUDE 194
CHAPTER 12B AS A CHILD OF ( THE ) FUTURE( INDIA), I 208
DESERVE TO BE EDUCATED
CHAPTER 13A A PRELUDE 212
CHAPTER 13B AT THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, HUMAN 216
RIGHTS: THE NEW CONSENSUS
CHAPTER 14A A PRELUDE 219
CHAPTER 14B CREATING A RIPPLE OF HOPE – HOW DO WE 220
ORGANIZE THE RURAL POOR?
CHAPTER 15A A PRELUDE 223
CHAPTER 15B LET US DEVELOP THEM GENUINELY 225
CHAPTER 16A A PRELUDE 229
CHAPTER 16B POVERTY IS A STIFF BILL OF GOODS 267
CHAPTER 17A A PRELUDE 281
CHAPTER 17B THE POOR ARE CLOSER TO YOU THAN YOU 286
THINK
CHAPTER 18A A PRELUDE 293
CHAPTER 18B WE GROW UP ON THE STREETS 296
CHAPTER 19A A PRELUDE 299
CHAPTER 19B I MAKE MY LIVING BY BEGGING 300
CHAPTER 20A A PRELUDE 302
2
3. PAGE
CHAPTER TITLE
NO.
CHAPTER 20B LET US CARE FOR THE DYING, THE 304
DESTITUTE, THE LONELY, THE HOMELESS,
THE ELDERLY AND THE INFIRM
CHAPTER 21A A PRELUDE 308
CHAPTER 21B WE, THE INDUSTRIAL REFUGEES AND 316
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE CONSTANTLY
SUFFERING
CHAPTER 22A A PRELUDE 319
CHAPTER 22B WHEN NATURE HAS THE LAST SAY 326
CHAPTER 23A A PRELUDE 328
CHAPTER 23B A LOT OF UNREST IN MAN’S MIND 329
CHAPTER 24A A PRELUDE 335
CHAPTER 24B FORGIVE US OUR SIN 337
CHAPTER 25A A PRELUDE 340
CHAPTER 25B LET US GO FUND-RAISING FOR A BETTER 341
WORLD
CHAPTER 26A A PRELUDE 344
CHAPTER 26B FROM GUIDELINES TO GOALS 386
CHAPTER 27A A PRELUDE 389
CHAPTER 27B WOMAN IS THE CREATOR OF SOCIETY 412
CHAPTER 28A A PRELUDE 445
CHAPTER 28B CAN WE FEED THE FUTURE WORLD 447
POPULATION?
CHAPTER 29A A PRELUDE 451
CHAPTER 29B NGO’S-ROLE TO PLAY-A TYPICAL APPROACH 454
CHAPTER 30A A PRELUDE 458
CHAPTER 30B VOICES FROM THE GRASSROOTS 461
CHAPTER 31A A PRELUDE 466
CHAPTER 31B MESSAGE OF PEACE COMING FROM RELIGION 468
CHAPTER 32A A PRELUDE 471
3
4. PAGE
CHAPTER TITLE
NO.
CHAPTER 32B SAVE OUR WORLD, YOU AND I ARE NOT 474
POWERLESS
4
5. PREFACE
“Now the trumpet summons us again…
…a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out,
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation’s struggle against the common
enemies of man : tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. Can we forge
against these enemies a grand and global alliance, north and south, east and
west, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind?”
-President J F Kennedy, USA, in an address to the nation
Our world’s future hangs precariously…lopsided development and rampant
consumerism have widened the chasm between the world’s rich and the
world’s poor. We have witnessed a gross violation of human rights across
the globe. Millions of the world’s children still cling precariously to life.
About 40,000 of them die every day due to preventable causes-hunger,
disease, war and neglect. Women in the developing world face gross
inequities in food and nutrition, income (s) and opportunity. Terrorism is
devastating large parts of the globe. Millions of the world’s people lack
access to safe drinking water, decent health care, shelter, education, and
means of communication and jobs. The task of ending world hunger
remains formidable. Increasing population pressures, deforestation and
desertification are eating away our precious natural resources. Many
countries face the ‘darker’ side of development, “debt”. War and disease
are forcing millions to flee their home countries. And, indigenous people
all over the world are becoming fast endangered under pressure from the
forces of global expansion. Also, there are those innocent people being
5
6. sexually abused, raped or mutilated (as in war). Drugs, alcohol, poor
mental health, juvenile delinquency and HIV/AIDS are taking a heavy toll.
Pollution is now a major health hazard. The ozone layers are getting
depleted. And the Earth is warming up…
Numbers do not matter. We are too much preoccupied with them. What we
need today is sound vision coupled with forceful, efficient and effective
policies and a firm commitment to the eradication of poverty and its
attendant ills. The time has come in the history of nations to liberate their
peoples from centuries of illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, disease and war.
For instance, a part of global spending on arms can be diverted to the social
sector. Why at all spend so much? I understand there are countries that do
not have a defense budget. This book seeks to address the vision required
towards effective global change by tracing world problems, topic by topic.
This book is not a continuous flow, but a collection of random thoughts,
quotations and extracts. Hope the book makes for good reading.
I do not understand much of fiscal policy or bulls and bears. What I do
understand is the language of the poor and the marginalized, the language
of the harsh realities of staying alive till the next moment, the next day, the
language of survival…
Change and love are the most important themes of the book.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep…”
6
7. -Robert Frost
Indeed what I am trying to convey is a message: a message of peace of my
dreams of utopia (or near utopia) on Planet Earth. I firmly believe that the
best way to serve the poor and the underprivileged is to walk hand in hand
with them and allow God to show you the way. Each one of us has a
promise to keep. If each one kept his/her promise, the world would surely
be a much better place to live in.
It is not just one planet; it is one home, one family. Is this utopia?
Let us challenge our limits in our endeavor (however small it may be) to
bring about a happier world.
Let us help shift development attention away from economic growth as the
main index of progress to look more closely to what is happening to the
poor in terms of equitable distribution of income.
One’s world could be big or small, depending on opportunities and
circumstances. Therefore, we should always make an effort towards
improvement and change in our own as well as in the lives of others.
I was only…. looking at the world through my eyes. So they say: “tiny
drops of water make up the ocean”. Only when we work together hand in
hand can we create a better world to live in.
Man’s quest for the unknown, his thirst for knowledge will never end, and
believe me, factors such as burgeoning populations and a decrease in arable
lands, the absence of peace and prevalent poverty and civil strife may force
man to settle in space or inside peace stations.
This may be a dream. We know of the 1st, the 2nd and the 3rd worlds. Very
soon we will have a zeroth world (most advanced) characterized by highly
7
8. sophisticated scienti-technogenic people residing in space – possibly on the
moon or on Mars? Will these be peace stations? The emphasis on zero in
the 1st chapter highlights the stark contrast between the 0th world and frozen
poverty. The 0th world may be characterized by hi-fidelity cities, a
complete disregard for the health of (the) earth, suave cyber – commoners,
cyber-laws, cyber-vehicles, cyber-parliaments, cyber-shanty towns etc. I
seek to add here that settling in the distant future may ease population
pressures on land, and that would be a tremendous achievement, but new
problems may arise!!!
The need of the hour is an intelligent humano-cryogenic system to awaken
man out of his deep slumber and work towards solutions to problems
persisting on Planet Earth.
And so they all sing…
“It is better to light just one little candle than to stumble in the dark...…
All you need is a tiny spark…
And the world will be free…”
Yes, we need to act urgently on issues. Some of the most pressing issues
are global warming, the extinction of species around the globe, massive
population growth, poverty and hunger and human rights abuses. The poor
are often reduced to development reports and socio-economic statistics.
Scant attention is given to the harsh realities of survival in their daily lives,
be they are lying below the poverty line, or be they lie displaced, or be they
stand infected with TB/HIV/AIDS.
The book begins with a surrealistic view of hope and contradiction…. a
note of pathos.…
8
9. In the end, it offers hope for me, hope for you, and hope for all of us, a
hope for mankind….
It may be fair to conclude however that as long as there are people, there
will be problems. We can however, minimize the extent and enormity of
such problems (and alleviate them all together) by better investing in our
children (primarily in the form of love, security and education), particularly
children in the rural areas and /or in unfortunate circumstances (children on
dope, AIDS orphans, young alcoholics, juvenile delinquents, minor
offenders, street children, child labor etc).
I have faced a lot of pain in my life so far. And I have chosen to express
myself particularly my anger and discontentment at the system. I could also
feel the ferment within me, as I wrote this book. The ferment to come
forward and work towards the health of human beings and that of the
environment.
I confess however that I cannot provide solutions. In fact, at places, the
ideas and thoughts may appear to be contradictory. Besides, solutions come
through work and experimentation. It is to the poor, the most unfortunate,
the most wretched and the ugliest on the planet that I dedicate my work.
Also to those working to make the world a better place to live in…
Talking of globalization with a human face (strengthening of the ‘HIPC
Initiative’ for instance), let us start with a vision of a just and sustainable
world. Let us relegate poverty to history! Let us work towards a future that
is economically, socially and ecologically viable for all, in other words
“sustainable”. People, who matter, need to have a closer look at realities
and make targets, which can not only be met but can also be sustained over
a period.
9
10. Let us work towards a more sustainable future-
Let us work together towards a new global order-
Let it truly be ‘the End of Inequality’!
10
11. CHAPTER 1A
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life from aching, or
Cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin into his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
- Emily Dickinson
I fall at the feet of the Lord almighty that he may protect the planet from
ultimate destruction and send some ‘divine Martians’ to protect every child
and every flower and every bird and every forest and every other creation
of God from being abused.
It may seem man is trying to escape to Mars with all this applied space
research because he may have discovered there is no peace left on earth
after Nazism, Fascism, the Cold War, and Bosnia and so on. If man starts
behaving like God, God will remind him that as a human being, he has
certain responsibilities left on Earth. At this moment, a child may be crying
out of hunger, another may be getting sexually abused (or, mutilated by a
landmine), a man may be dying of cold on the streets at night, and a bird or
an animal may be facing extinction.
At the turn of the century, man must start telling himself, telling his
“atman” (soul) that there is plenty of work left to do, that he must come
down to Earth, and for once, stop running after the Martians and the
Venetians.
11
12. CHAPTER 1B
“TOWARDS A HAPPIER WORLD, OUR
MISSION SHOULD BEGIN NOW”
The year : 1999 Anno Domini following the birth of Christ.
The place : Cape Canaveral, the United States of America.
The event : preparing for the launch of a rocket into outer space.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) testing all
controls and communication instruments, pressure testing the combustion
chamber, testing the nozzle, testing the fuel.
Time: 10: 15: 03 GMT.
At this particular moment, something else is happening in another part of
the world, called the Third world, (may be), in Brazil or in India, God is
trying to touch a trash can, yes, a little flower called a child is picking
subsistence (“food for thought”) out of a trash can (actually, a garbage
dump). And God wanted to warn policy-makers and environmentalists of
the perils of neglecting a child (hunger / malnutrition) and neglecting the
environment, our beloved eco-system. Yes, the policy-makers and
environmentalists were sleeping and the two superpowers were vying with
each other trying to build superior space shuttles. One underwent a series of
reforms with Glasnost and Perestroika…as also a fall of its system
(Communism) …another power (may be star power) rose out of the ashes
12
13. after President Harry Truman and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yes, the land
of Zen Buddhism, ‘Shinto’ and beautiful Mt.Fujiyama and the Kamakura is
now busy building fashionable cars, more comfortable cars. Pray, how
much more comfort do we need? When, at this moment, a child is being
born as a cretin because his mother’s diet lacked iodine.
[I must say that discrimination begins before birth]
Did the almighty want this kind of a world?
He wanted peace.
Day by day, wars are increasing.
Have computers, technology been able to bring peace, solved poverty?
Has science been able to bring peace, solve poverty? (I am, however,
gradually coming to believe, that science and technology, well applied, can
cure much of what ails mankind).
What is mankind coming to?
It may sound futuristic, but man is trying to act like the extra-terrestrial,
create Jurassic parks around himself. Man wants peace, “shanti”. Man may
be dreaming of peace, actually dinosaurs, which means life in the jungles
(yes, man probably thinks he was at peace in the jungles, the beginning of
civilization, so may be he wants to go back to the jungles).
There was peace in the past. There will hopefully be peace in the future,
and the present is in turmoil. Before we discuss this turmoil, let us observe
a moment of silence:
“Om shanti” (a salutation to the concept of peace)
13
14. “Silent night, holy night” (a salutation to Lord Jesus, Christ the Lord)
“Buddham Sharanam Gachhami” (a salutation to Lord Buddha, the prince
who renounced the world, let us put ourselves under his protection) and
pray:
• for those millions of children who have been traumatized by mass
violence (orphans of war, never again!) e.g. in Rwanda, Bosnia-
• for those suffering from the after-effects of the holocaust at Hiroshima
and Nagasaki (never again should that happen!!)-
• for those in Asia, Africa and in the rest of the world suffering from
(famine), disease and hunger-
• for those languishing under poverty-
• for those sleeping on the streets because of lack of adequate housing-
• for the rights of indigenous peoples-
• for those displaced by multinational projects-
• for those displaced from their homes as a result of civil war and social
disintegration-
• for every plant, every flower, for every tree-
• for every animal or bird on the verge of extinction-
• for every man or every woman who has faced cross-cultural friction,
community friction-
• for global refugees-
14
15. • for every man or woman or child who has been denied the right to read
and write-
• for all those who have suffered abuse of some kind-
We break our silence, our peace, our “sadhana” (meditation)
Time: 10: 20: 23 GMT.
The space rocket has taken off from the blast site, planning to go into a
condition of zero gravity, weightlessness, perhaps carrying a cat (first there
was a dog called “Laika” in outer space). At this moment, a man in a
country called Nepal in the trans-Himalayas is freezing in the cold on the
streets at night, when the temperatures have fallen below zero. (Be they in
Nepal or in America, imagine those having no homes to go back to?) At
this time, in the Northern Hemisphere (God, why on Earth is everything on
this planet so divided-including the Hemispheres?) lakes have frozen at the
North Pole. So a man has frozen on the streets when temperatures have
fallen below zero? Yes and the Earth is probably heading for frozen peace.
So, let me tell myself, my heart melts for a child (and it will any way, if not
for other reasons, under present conditions of global warming!).
So, let me sacrifice my ice cream for a hungry child on the street. Let me
look into my mirage and try to create an oasis in a desert.
Let me, for once, sacrifice my meal for a hungry child, and try to work to
green a desert.
Silence peace
Om shanti a salutation to peace
Peace peace
15
16. Commonality togetherness
At this moment, antiballistic missiles are getting fired!!!!!
Think for a moment, while I pay homage to an American called Carl Sagan
of “Cosmos” fame and a Frenchman called Jean Jacques Cousteau of
“Secrets of the Sea” fame. With or without heresy, (remember
Copernicus?), once again, take the plunge. Get a little deeper into someone
else’s world. I know that in 1960, bathyscaphe Trieste reached the deepest
ocean bed- the Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean. But you do not have to
build a “more fashionable” bathyscaphe. I have better things to do-
attending a “glamorous” ‘international convention’ where policy-makers
(and I am one of them) will discuss???????, the three most unfinished tasks
on the global agenda-
Poverty
The environment
And
Global human security
And ways to manage the events!!!!!!!
16
17. CHAPTER 2A
We are facing a number of threats to the welfare of the world’s population
… some arise from natural causes such as droughts, floods, locusts, crop
failure and disease…. also, trading rivalries between nations, felt injustices,
narcotics, AIDS…. authoritarian governments… war… poverty (of food,
shelter, health care, work & education, lack of clean drinking water), we
are living in a dangerous world, of human rights abuses, man’s lack of
humanity to man… a grim picture… refugees… war – torn countries in
which both young and old suffer…a burgeoning population threatening life
itself… too many of the world’s children still cling hazardously to their
lives…natural disasters… unemployment… crime and extremism (also,
commonly known as guerrilla warfare) … racism, sexism… religion… we
are living in a world full of inequalities… gender inequality… a straight
demarcation between the “North” and the poor “South,” where people
continue battling hunger, ignorance and disease… to make better lives, we
have to relieve the immediate suffering of people in the developing
countries, and to help them raise their standards of living by their own
efforts. imbalance in our world, stems from, among other things,
unpredictable climate, poor soil, natural disasters (e.g. floods, earthquakes,
sudden drought), insufficient natural resources… also, heavy spending on
arms instead of on essentials… in many of the world’s largest cities (and
remote rural and tribal hamlets), people fight for survival (picking out
“food” from garbage dumps)… there is extreme malnutrition... infant and
maternal mortality… there is a need to close the gap… and then, there is,
the problem of “debt”… we are examining the darker side of
development…. and there arises a need to re-orient national and
international plans and policies in favor of the poor…
17
18. The UN has brought relief from under-nourishment to many millions (in
the Third World) and saved many more, by providing vaccination and
treatment… from disease… has delivered many small farmers in
developing countries from struggling on poor or unirrigated soil… our
world is changing… we have achieved a victory over smallpox…new
vistas of communication have opened up… the risk of nuclear war has
receded… and yet, a vast number of people are living in inhuman and
degrading conditions… we face environmental pollution, extinction of
animal and bird species and most importantly, depletion of our ozone layer
and global warming...
Talk cannot prevent a child from dying… cannot produce enough food for
a single family… or sink wells or dig irrigation channels to produce better
crops… it cannot provide medical care for families that have never seen a
doctor in their lives… all “unfinished business of our ‘beloved” planet.. So
much to be done, so much that can be done… Its high time we begun…..
“Western civilization has made and continues to make great progress in
material development, but if techniques can also be created for achieving
internal happiness, modern society will become far more advanced.
Without such internal growth, we become enslaved to external things, and
even though called humans, we become like parts of a machine.”
- The Dalai Lama
It is not just one planet
It is one home
One family.
18
19. “What the world has to eradicate is fear and ignorance.”
- Jan Masaryk
Although communications have improved,
… Have the Third World’s poor gained…?
Let us challenge our limits in our endeavor to bring about a happier world.
“Just begin, one, one, one… begin at home by saying something good to
your child…. begin by helping someone in need in your community … do
something beautiful for God.”
- Mother Teresa
Let us eat the food, learn to weave a mat or make a gesture of respect … or
recite a charm…. during our interactions with people from other cultures.
“Humanity is indeed a family… I hope that people all over the world….
will realize they share similar experiences. Then they might think, this is
our world, we better take care of it.”
- Ken Heyman
The gap in living standards between the few with money, houses, or good
jobs, and the many that have none of those good things, is wide. It may be
widely resented….
19
20. Some are out of the era, some still in it… of cannibalism, headhunting,
infanticide, incest… the rest of the world has moved ahead. What an
anomaly?
Poverty…. racism, unemployment, gender inequality, employment of
children in factories… street children…. illiteracy…. ignorance…. a lot
more to achieve…
“Many of us have fixed ideas… we should talk together with open minds
and grasp anything which is a step forward; not hold out for our particular,
ultimate panacea…”
- Eleanor Roosevelt, from a speech at a meeting of women’s clubs, 1925
The task of ending world hunger remains formidable. There is such a big,
muddled world, so much to be done, so much that can be done… in
learning to care, in thinking of hunger not as an abstraction but as one
empty stomach, in having a hospitable mind, open like a window to
currents of air and to light from all sides.
- Anonymous
“It is a pity that operations to find homes for millions of refugees, to bring
rapid emergency relief after grave natural disasters in any part of the globe,
to wipe out smallpox from the earth, to stamp out the drug trade all over the
world, to help organize family planning activities among much of the
world’s population, to organize the world’s meteorological services, or
abolish pollution in the oceans, to mention only a few, are not so well
20
21. known to the general public as the angry speeches hurled across the
horseshoe table of the Security Council chamber.”
- A former British UN delegate.
“Corruption is anti-national, anti-poor and anti-economic development”,
said the Central Vigilance Commissioner (India) in his letter of June 23,
2000 to all government departments. The ‘Corruption Perception Index’
released by the Berlin-based Transparency International in September 2000
places India in the 69th position in a list of 90 countries. India’s
performance is worse than that of China, Ghana, Mauritius and South
Africa.
The UNDP report on human development, 1999 on South Asia, tells us that
if corruption in India goes down to that of Scandinavian countries, the GDP
as well as foreign direct investment will go up (and much of this growth
can be redirected into agriculture, the mainstay of the Indian
economy)….time for introspection!
21
22. CHAPTER 2B
THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF THE 20TH
CENTURY, CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST
CENTURY AND BEYOND
Quote
“And it is not only that the master sees when a particular method is
suitable. It is much more. There is an alchemy that takes place when we
meet an enlightened master, an intuitive recognition is born in us that, yes,
this man represents our own ultimate possibility, that what he is we can be.
So the master acts as the catalyst to awaken in us a trust in ourselves, in our
own flowering. This trust is enough to start us on the path.”
Unquote
Excerpt from Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
The greatest unfinished task on the global agenda is managing an event
called time. An event is happening and we on Planet Earth are running out
of time. At this moment, someone’s expectations are rising. Can we predict
the consequences of a rising expectation? A man in a remote village
expects an e-mail facility in his village at subsidized rates so that his wife
can send a message to him during his lunchtime in the field. But think, a
heavy metal group slashes innocent pigeons on stage and a big group of
people watch. Is Interpol sleeping? Come to think of it, such a thing
happening at the turn of the century?
22
23. Actually, how humane are we? Glaring inequalities in society exist. Those
wallowing in luxury and privileges beware. Unrestrained open displays of
wealth and privileges and indifference to the poor might one day arouse
such rage as to cause a bloody revolution as happened in France.
We still have a long way to go to call ourselves civilized or humane or
compassionate or sufficiently tolerant.
Growing instances of communal and caste conflicts, religious
fundamentalism, domination of the forces of “mono-thinking” (which is
destroying world peace), lack of gender equality, and lack of concern for
the underprivileged and crass materialism pervade. Oppressive practices
such as bonded and child labor still exist. Yes, nimble fingers (of the child)
make fireworks at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu state of India and footballs in
Sialkot region of Pakistan.
Let us teach human values and pray for human rights, pray for world peace.
A humane society would employ respect for the environment and for
human beings.
In India, for instance, despite the “wake up” calls (revival / renaissance)
given more than a century ago by national and religious leaders beginning
with sages like Rishi Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda and Raja Rammohan
Roy, the national scenario is still uninspiring. The country has (relatively)
the largest number of illiterates. Emaciated women of Rajasthan state trek
long distances to fetch drinking water. Female infanticide exists. Child
marriage exists. In many areas, the plight of women is no better than that
of cattle. And an often-mere object of man’s lust… the obnoxious practice
of “Lausa” exists wherein rural women in Rajasthan state have to wear iron
23
24. underwear when their husbands are away. And then, there are those victims
of superstition and ignorance waiting for light in their lives:
Only god knows why a group of people stood and worshipped while a
young innocent widow bride called Roop Kanwar was made “Sati”, burnt
to ashes in Deorala village of Rajasthan state in India.
The ideal should be love for fellow beings and solidarity of mankind.
Attitudinal changes in the people to build up a more humane society, more
tolerant, and truly secular and democratic is advocated.
“Atmabodha”
or
Self-knowledge:
I am composing the “Atmabodha”or “Self-knowledge” to serve the needs
of those who have been purified through the practice of austerities and who
are peaceful in heart, free from cravings, and desirous of liberation.
To serve the needs etc-needs conducive to the attainment of liberation, only
self-knowledge can destroy ignorance and free one from repeated rebirths,
in “Samsara”, the relative world of incessant change and movement, which
is characterized by pain and pleasure, weal and woe, love and hate, life and
death, and other pairs of opposites.
“Therefore know thyself. When the true self is known, the jig-saw puzzle
of the world gets solved, doubts are at an end, and all misery vanishes.”
-Sri Sankara, Swami Nikhilananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda
Institute of New York, USA.
24
25. At this moment, the internet is probably replacing a learned man in
explaining the philosophy of the Holy Vedas, the Upanishads, and the
Bhagwad Gita????? What a pity!!!!!
We constantly find that man acts relative to society; we are all victims of
society in some way or the other, for instance, the victim of poverty. Let us
learn to convert our dislike for society (presuming that at least some of us
dislike society) into love for all victims of society.
Om shanti.
A salutation to the concept of peace.
Let us observe silence for a moment and move ahead…
More progress in human well being has been made in the last 50 years than
in the previous 200, according to a recent report from a children’s
organization. Average life expectancy has risen. There has been a wide
range of improvements in income, nutrition, health care and education. In
the last 50 years, the proportion of children who die before the age of 5 has
been reduced. Adult literacy rates have doubled to approximately 70%.
There has been a victory over smallpox. Rising immunization levels have
eradicated polio from the Western Hemisphere. Let us work to eradicate
the virus ((which virus)?) from the other hemispheres?????
The British historian Arnold Toynbee predicted in the 1940’s that the 20th
century will be chiefly remembered…not as an age of political conflicts or
technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think
of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical “objective”.
25
26. Judging from the headlines of the 1990’s, this prophecy seems a bit too
optimistic.
Politically, the disintegration of Russia and the failure of Communism will
be remembered. Communism failed because of volcanoes from beneath.
First, the Cold war, then the Gulf War, then Bosnia, Chechnya,
Herzegovina, then Rwanda??? What kind of peace, what kind of
democracy (or, democratization) has been achieved? The Earth itself is in
danger?? A fifth of the world’s people still live in absolute poverty (or,
relative poverty)?? They are the 1 billion absolute poor-“those who are
without the basics of life, those without education and jobs (mass
unemployment), those without clean water or basic health care, those
whose children die or become disabled in such numbers, those who are
forced to ruin their own environments and futures for the sake of staying
alive today”. Women are among the poorest of the poor. Women in the
developing world face gross inequities.
“Meeting these unmet needs” is the primary unfinished business of the 20th
century. And not to do so is unconscionable in a world made one by
communications. The main question is that of morality, which must match
with global increases in productive capacity. The world’s primary need is
meeting the needs of the poorest children. Children in the Third World
suffer from malnutrition, childhood diseases, polio, suffer from lack of a
nutritious diet, from the lack of primary school education, the lack of clean
water and safe sanitation in all communities.
Given a sustained effort and more help from the industrialized nations,
more developing countries can reach (if not utopia) in lesser and lesser
time. The world will then have taken a major step towards finishing the job
26
27. of erasing from the planet, the worst aspects of poverty, malnutrition,
preventable illness, and illiteracy and all in good time, that too.
Before we move ahead, I quote Swami Vivekananda: “poverty there must
be (yes, the biggest disease on this planet), so long as the disease known as
civilization exists: and hence the need of relief.”
Swamiji (quoted above) spoke of greed, now every village probably has a
television set, and out of the attraction of a city life, (more so, out of sheer
desperation over difficult living conditions in the villages) millions are
flocking to the cities, creating slums, squalor, shanty towns. Some are
sleeping on the streets, some on railway tracks, some are having to dig food
out of trash bins. One important question that policy- makers should
consider, is that, where is there more happiness-in the villages (despite
poverty) or in the cities (urban poverty)? Are they poorer in the cities or in
the villages? Policy-makers should carry out PRA (participatory rural
appraisal) and PUA (participatory urban appraisal) with the poor to
measure their degree of happiness? Then starts our event management. the
principal technologies for meeting the unmet needs at low cost are already
available and the financial cost is negligible in relation to what humanity
has at stake. Money alone will not be sufficient. Political commitment and
competent management are just as important.
However, according to one estimate, the total cost of providing basic social
services in the developing countries, including health, education, family
planning, clean water, and all of the other basic goals agreed on at previous
social summits is less than what the world spends on playing Golf???
27
28. CHAPTER 3A
God created nature
and then he created man
did he think of the consequences?
Today the birds no little chirp
the waters of the mountain stream carry a melancholic strain
and our planet weeps,
pray, have we forgotten how to think deep
Oh! Give me a world,
where all looks green
where you can hear the music of the water
and the song of the stream
where seldom is heard a discouraging word
and seldom can a barren tree be seen.
And in our efforts to preserve nature
and to restore harmony,
oh! Let us work as a team,
save the planet,
save mankind
help!
Making an effort to clean our immediate surroundings is the first step
towards a clean environment.
The well being and the hopes of the peoples of the world can never be
served until the environment and eco-systems that sustain all life on earth
are secure.
28
29. People have now to survive on an environmentally fragile planet. By the
middle of the next century-during the lifetimes of today’s children – the
world population may double and the world economy may quadruple. Food
production must triple if people are to be adequately fed, but the resource
base for sustainable agriculture is eroding. Energy is needed, but even at
present levels of use, fossil fuels threaten stability of world climatic
conditions. The world’s forests are being destroyed each day, and the loss
of biological wealth and diversity continue relentlessly.
We cannot expect the poor to be preoccupied with the blaring emergencies
of global warming or the depletion of the ozone layer. It is the silent
emergencies – polluted water or degraded land-that put their lives and
livelihoods at risk. Unless poverty ‘per se’ is addressed, environmental
sustainability cannot be guaranteed…
One way to control “global climate warming” would be to spread more
greenery around the area of operation (e.g. a city).
There need not be any tension between economic growth and
environmental protection and regeneration. Much of environmental
degradation (e.g. destruction of forests) results from poverty and limited
human choices… therefore, economic growth becomes vital for poor
societies.
Today’s guides and scouts are in the forefront of conservation and ecology.
Tree planting, waste re-cycling, preservation of footpaths and hedgerows,
work in nature reserves and support of the World Wide Fund for Nature,
are just a few of the ways in which they care for Planet Earth. All this is
true to the spirit of Robert Baden-Powell, with his love of nature and hatred
of pollution and over production.
29
30. Worldwide, pesticides and toxic chemicals pose a risk to public health and
the environment. Let us promote safer means of pest control.
Think, industrialization and urban expansion have taken a toll on the
famous Sherwood Forest, the vast expanse of wilderness just north of
Nottingham, England.
A comment on conservation: by George Pope Morris: -
“Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it sheltered me, and I’ll protect it now.”
Through “afforestation”, forests, or tree cover is recreated on land, which
may, earlier, have been forested land. Land, which is covered with trees
and bushes, supports all life forms, including human life. Roots of plants
hold the rich topsoil and prevent its erosion by wind and water; help the
soil absorb rainfall thereby raising the water table, which fills the wells.
Trees and shrubs slowly create humus, which makes the topsoil rich. Trees
and other plants produce a more comfortable temperature and more
oxygen, thereby creating a pleasant living environment.
Every organization, which has under its charge a large area, must try to
afforest at least those regions, which are within the vicinity of living areas.
There are two basic methods of afforestation. In places where the land
already had trees and other plant cover, protection and watering will lead to
natural afforestation. On bare land, one has to plant trees to effect
afforestation. One can imaginatively plant trees to capture the real and
aesthetic effects of a “true” forest.
30
31. To make afforestation successful, one has to
identify and analyze suitable lands;
identify and select suitable species;
manage water effectively and efficiently;
manage cattle effectively;
operate nursery and plantations;
ensure high rate of sapling survival;
monitor, evaluate and take feedback.
Activities of afforestation on community basis will boost tree cover on land
and fuel wood and fodder programs, seed development, etc., to create a
peaceful, sustainable living environment.
The world’s oceans contain enormous volumes of biotic, mineral and
energy resources. The ocean’s role in creating the conditions required for
life on Earth is highly significant. The oceans still continue to sustain many
living organisms, and as such, are called “genetic nurseries”. In recent
years, due to indiscriminate human interference in the form of unplanned
catching of fish, offshore oil drilling and dumping of waste products, the
natural environment of the oceans has been greatly disturbed. As a result, a
large number of marine species have become extinct.
It is estimated that 80 percent of fossil fuels will be exhausted in a century
if the current rate of exploitation continues. Similarly, over fishing has led
31
32. to scarcity of fish even in some of the once important fishing grounds of
the world. All these call for “Conservation”.
The process of “bio-diversity conservation” means the conservation of all
forms of natural life that would earlier exist in a particular area, and would
still exist there, if not human beings had altered the land and water and / or
polluted them. Let us raise awareness towards conservation of natural life
forms such as elephants, tigers and crocodiles … and allow other natural
species, both plant and animal, to live peacefully….
Conservation is necessary in that much of land and water surrounding
natural life is getting altered. Bio-diversity Conservation requires that a part
of the unutilized area in a region be protected, to allow a small pocket of
nature to live peacefully….
Both wasteland development and afforestation can be planned in innovative
ways (using mostly local species of plants) to help bio-diversity
conservation.
Conservation of coastal and marine life like sharks, jellyfish, corals,
plankton, etc. is also of prime importance…. the first step would be to
identify those species of flora and fauna that lie threatened or endangered…
“Wastelands” are degraded, under-utilized or deteriorating (owing to lack
of water and soil management, or natural causes) lands. These wastelands
can be brought under vegetative cover given the right amount of effort.
India’s land resources were healthier earlier. India has 2.4% of the world’s
land area but 15% of the world’s human population and about 16% of the
world’s cattle population. Due to increasing population pressure, per capita
land availability has declined. Over exploitation of natural resources, mass
increase in the demands of food, fuel, fodder, fiber, shelter, industry,
32
33. communication, etc. and changes in individual lifestyles have exerted
tremendous pressure on India’s land resources, leading to soil erosion, land
degradation and finally wastelands. An estimate places 23% of India’s
geographical area under “wastelands”.
The main causes of development of wastelands are: -
erosion caused by water or winds;
improper land and water management;
overgrazing by cattle;
“shifting” agriculture;
water – logging;
salinity/alkalinity.
Developing wastelands has many advantages: -
it is a source of income and employment to the rural poor;
it ensures a constant supply of fuel, fodder and timber;
it contributes to soil fertility;
it enables maintenance of balance in ecology;
it enhances forest cover;
it helps bring about conventional rainfall;
it helps supplement income of farmers;
an increase in the number of trees reduces pests, with trees sheltering
fields from insects;
trees help recharge ground water.
33
34. Initiatives should be taken to tackle the problem of degraded lands and
putting wastelands to uses that respect the principles of sustainability…
There is a need to educate common people on issues such as land
degradation, soil erosion, conservation of land and water, technology for
afforestation, income-generation and social issues. This gigantic task has to
involve government and voluntary agencies as well as the community…
To achieve higher productivity, local “eco-friendly” species should be
planted. We would be able to generate more fuel and energy.
Finally, this “greening” will have a significant effect on the immediate
vicinity…
Talking about putting wastelands to productive use! –
The entire developing world is facing the problem of acute energy
shortage, so very important for developmental activities. “Renewable
energy” or energy from the sun, wind, biomass and water are not only
viable options but also reduce pressures on fast-depleting conventional
fossil fuels. Renewable energy is pollution free, locally available
abundantly, external, efficient and cost-effective.
Alternative sources of energy can be utilized in many ways:
(i) Bio-gas: is obtained from cow dung and human waste. It is efficient,
simple, and cheap and can be used to generate electricity. enriched
manure can be obtained from the left over residue in a biogas unit;
(ii) Smokeless cooking stove: traditional cooking stoves often are
detrimental to health. They may cause problems of the eye and of
respiration. but “smokeless” cooking stoves with chimneys reduce
health problems, reduce firewood consumption and enable speed
cooking;
34
35. (iii) Windmill: helps harness wind energy. Windmills are pollution-free,
cost-effective and easy to obtain. they can be used to drain water
from wells and generate electricity;
(iv) Solar energy: can be used to generate heat and electricity. Dryers,
solar cookers, etc. use solar energy. Other uses are water heating,
pumping of water and lighting. Solar energy is pollution-free and is
easily available and cost-effective.
A “revolving fund” should be formed to provide monetary help to
producers and users of renewable energy technology.
Renewable energy sources (or devices) such as smokeless cooking stoves,
solar lanterns, solar home lighting systems, domestic heaters; etc. should be
sold at subsidized prices to the rural poor….
The government should promote the establishment of co-operatives of
renewable energy entrepreneurs in small towns and rural areas…
– small earthen dams for water harvesting are both ecologically sound and
economically profitable. Small reservoirs can transform rural economies
without eroding soil, deforesting or desertifying regions or displacing
people…
– exposure to radiation can lead to many biological hazards. It is known
that even low doses of radiation exposure can cause cancer and genetic
disorders. A radioactive element can enter the human body through the
food chain over a distance of thousands of miles.
– toxic wastes are dumped in Third World countries by industrialized
nations’ industries. Some of these-such as PVC, industrial incinerator
ash, contaminated earth, etc. are extremely dangerous. These radioactive
35
36. waste materials often mix with the soil and vegetation, polluting rivers
and the environment; and leading to serious health hazards.
– with regard to agriculture, economic development is possible through
systematic infusion of scientific and technological inputs, which in turn,
would lead to higher agricultural productivity and sustainability.
– forests are very close to man’s culture. They are not only a source of
material prosperity but also the birthplaces of our culture. Materialistic
civilization has completely changed the man-nature relationship. Forest
– dwellers have an ethnical relationship with forests, and depend on
them for their survival. “Social forestry” should, therefore, be taken up
at all levels.
– the quantity of water present for human consumption is becoming more
and more scarce. Scarcity of water is now a national phenomenon and
the breakdown of storage and conservation systems in rural areas has
further increased the problem. Water crisis threatens the survival of the
rural poor. There is a need to develop appropriate technology in order to
improve the water crisis, which will get worse if not checked (Third
World Network Features, August 1988).
– let us develop community – based one-tier systems to provide safe
drinking water to the weaker sections of the society particularly the rural
poor. A person selected from the very community itself should be
formally trained and provided with proper tools and knowledge for
installing water pumps. Government hand-pump systems are costlier
and do not involve the community
- (“Water in the Desert” – Health for the Millions, June 1988).
36
37. – in ecology, we may find the basis for a renewal of politics – ecology
becoming capable of forming the nucleus of a new ideology of the
future. The management of land, water and forest resources may have
political implications. Talking of political implications of ecology!
(Ecology and the Renewal of Politics, Jan 1989).
– pollution, particularly water pollution, has adverse effects on fisheries
with both the number and numbers of each species consequently
declining. The detection of mercury in fish flesh and sediments is a
serious matter. Talking of industries creating problems for fisheries!
– with regard to afforestation, there is a need to make village peoples’
needs the primary objective so as to establish a healthy rural economy.
Maximizing revenues for the government and maximizing yields for
industry should be of secondary importance.
– forests are of great importance to managing water resources. Two major
uses include (I) the regulation of the disposition of rainfall, thereby
reducing the chances of soil erosion; and (ii) regulation of floods
through management of forests in the upstream catchments.
– water is very important to life but it is unevenly distributed in the world,
and subject to misuse. Continued exploitation of global water resources
can have disastrous implications.
– let us have alternate technologies for increasing source of drinking
water. The source would differ depending upon the terrain. Traditional
methods can be improved with latest scientific technologies.
– we cannot afford to ignore the hazards of nuclear (energy) plants.
Radioactive waste is to be safely disposed of, but very often, built in
37
38. design safety systems offer no guarantee of protection. As happened
during the Chernobyl gas disaster (former USSR), the general publics in
the surrounding towns and villages may not have been warned about
radiation hazards.
– during famine-relief operations, authorities should allow decision-
making at all levels. Self-planned and self-managed relief activities by
(local) rural women’s groups will go a long way in famine relief. Call it
‘gender-based famine relief’!
– let us “embrace trees” to protect forests from commercial felling!
((The Evolution, Structure and Impact of the “Chipko” (embrace the
tree) Movement, India, May 1986)).
– development depends on the environment. The problem(s) of the
environment exist in a vicious circle and the solution lies in improving
the country’s gross nature product.
– “conservation of resources” does not run on its own. For conservation,
there must be broad policies based on economic principles and human
ethics. To achieve conservation, policies should encompass: (I)
substitution (e.g. synthetic fiber for cotton), (ii) recycling (reuse of
wastes), (iii) innovation (through study and research), (iv) minimization
of wastage, (v) extension of education and knowledge, (vi) enactment of
laws of conservation, (vii) correct estimation of reserves (e.g. of fossil
fuels, fish, etc.), and (viii) an assessment of requirements for the future.
Floods are becoming rampant in China and India. Drought has devastated
the American Midwest and Africa. Storms and hurricanes in Europe and
the Caribbean are taking heavy tolls. Waves in the North Atlantic have got
bigger.
38
39. There is environmental imbalance throughout the globe. Health is at
considerable risk, for instance, young children in Bangkok and Mexico are
suffering from high lead levels. Lopsided development and rampant
consumerism is leading to ozone depletion, global warming, the green
house effect, rise in ocean and sea levels, and glaciers and ice caps will
melt. Bangkok is sinking at the rate of one inch per year (to be confirmed).
The rise in temperature does not merely threaten life and property of
humans but puts in danger the entire biodiversity of the earth. Marine life
will very soon become extinct.
Worldwide, today there are 1-1.5 lakh additional cases of cataract-induced
blindness. Predictions are that in the lower latitudes, the eye cancer rate
will greatly increase in the coming years … The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has projected that in the 50 years between 1991-2041,
12 million Americans will be affected by skin cancer and 2,00,000 will die
from malignant melanoma…
Changes in the Earth’s climate will sweep away one-third of the global
forests. The rain forests in Africa are shrinking by 1.3 million hectares
annually…
Although following the Kyoto protocol in Dec 1997 the U.S. has
reluctantly agreed to reduce its emissions to 7 per cent below the 1990
levels by 2012, this cut is too little for a nation which consumes a major
percentage of the Earth’s energy…
World policies on energy usage and control of greenhouse gases have to
change, or global warming will demolish ecological balance. Time to
think!
39
40. “Today the most religious movement in the world is environment
movement.”
- Archbishop of Canterbury
i. “environmental management” rests with individuals – those who
manage land, sea and space. Such scientists as oceanographers, social
scientists, ecologists, demographers, economists, geologists,
geographers and medical scientists all collect and analyze environment
data. But what is important is how and to what extent each individual
participates in environment conservation.
Global environments are deteriorating and becoming more and more
“unlivable”. Our lives now stand affected. It is the poor and the
marginalized that are suffering the most.
ii. awareness of the environment: only concerned persons can influence
attitudes and bring out change… the need of the hour is an
“environment awareness program”-to pressurize the ministry, the courts,
the administration and the legislature. Press and the media and
educational institutions can disseminate information on environment.
Groups of vital importance to the environment include – rural people
who depend on forests for their livelihood, livestock grazers on common
lands, urban housewives who can recycle or dispose of domestic waste,
rag-pickers who help recycle used household material, politicians and
the courts…
iii. there are some that feel that environment should be taught in schools.
Education on environment can make it a part of our lives. How many of
us are (actually) willing to behave in an “environment-friendly” way,
40
41. like recycling paper, waste, etc., reducing car emissions, or not using
CFC-based car air conditioners or refrigerators?
Non-formal methods of education should be incorporated into formal
school and college education in addition to community “environment
campaigns”.
A very good way to make for more “environmentally – sensitive”
individuals is to actually take students on “site visits” towards observation
of natural services, damages caused to them. Sites include – deforested
wastelands, rivers and such quantities of garbage as cannot be managed…
we can set up “eco-(friendly) clubs” to instill respect and love for nature
among our children, the citizens of the world’s tomorrow…
Let us pursue issues related to forests, wildlife, pollution, environmental
degradation and cruelty to animals.
“Environmental Information Systems” can be setup…
Article 51 (g) of the Indian constitution states “it shall be the duty of every
citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including
forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living
creatures.”
Nature conservation and environmental protection form the basis for
sustainable development. Remember where food comes from? The
following areas need serious thought and concrete action:
environment education and awareness;
conservation of biological diversity;
sustainable utilization of natural resources;
41
42. pollution and waste;
lifestyles; and
exploitation of renewable energy.
Conservation of nature… will inevitably lead to human happiness!
(Most of the above are extracts from a book on Community Development,
courtesy: the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India, date not
known)
42
43. CHAPTER 3B
FROM GOLF GREENS TO EARTH
FRIENDLY GREENS, LET US PLANT MORE
TREES IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
“The world requires a few hundred bold men and women. Practice that
boldness which dares know the truth…then you will be free.”
-Swami Vivekananda
I am quoting Swami Vivekananda at this moment because one bold
woman’s effort could convince a mighty corporation of a need for
“Green Earth”. A Californian woman, Miss Julia Hill finally returned
to Earth at the weekend after saving the Giant Red Wood tree that
had been her home since December 1997. She lived in the sixty
meter Red Wood as a one - woman protest against continuous
logging of the massive trees, which can live for two thousand years
and which once covered two million acres of the Western U.S. Miss
Hill finally reached an agreement with the Pacific Lumber Company
(Corporate social responsibility, Corporate partnership- we will
come to this point later), which owns the land, that she called
‘Luna’- and a two point nine acre buffer zone around it would be
spared the axe. We remember Sting (Gordon Sumner) who had sung
for the Amazonian forests (charity music). This time singers Joan
Baez and Bonnie Raitt were among celebrities who clambered up to
her platform to express their support. Any way, many other trees are
being felled at this moment and the sources of livelihood for
43
44. indigenous peoples are being destroyed. And space shuttle
“Discovery” (what about the other important things waiting to get
discovered???) is streaking into orbit from the Kennedy space center
in the United States of America.
Anyway, let us not waste time. Let us recycle waste in the cities, crush
mineral water bottles after use. Fight pollution-for instance, prevent
ourselves from throwing waste into the seas and the oceans. Pollutants and
industrial waste from factories kill a number of people. After inspection,
such factories should be closed down. It is our moral duty to protect
innocent people, who are often victims (of no fault of theirs) of such
industrial pollution.
Much of what follow are extracts from “Every Girl’s Handbook” by Roger
Coote, 1994:
It is to be known that there are about fourteen lakh (1400000) species of
plants, animals and other living things on earth. Many biologists believe
that there are countless other species that have not yet been discovered and
that the real total may be more than one crore (10000000).
All life depends on plants, which recycle the gases in the atmosphere to
produce the oxygen that is vital to life, and provide many animals with
food.
In each habitat-forest, desert, sea or any other, the larger ones eat the
smallest organisms and still larger creatures eat them in turn. Every species
has its place and depends in some way on the others. So, if a single species
becomes extinct, the balance of the habitat may be threatened. What
happens in the Arctic-the polar bear at the top depends on all the other
organisms – the seals it eats, the haddock the seals eat, and the small fish,
44
45. the animal plankton and the tiny plant-plankton right at the bottom.
Tropical rainforests are the richest habitats on Earth and contain more
living species than any other. Let us work to protect our forests- yes, I am
talking of “conservation” of natural species. Remember what happened
around 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period and the
Jurassic period, which preceded, the dinosaurs and many other reptiles and
plants died out. No one knows why this happened. The most likely reason
seems to be that a huge meteorite from space struck the Earth with
immense force. This could have set off wildfires, the giant Tsunami, and a
cloud of dust. All of these effects could have combined to wipe out the
dinosaurs and other life forms.
After the death of the dinosaurs, more and more mammals appeared, and
among them, man has come to dominate the earth.
Charles Darwin in his “Origin of Species” has spoken of “survival of the
fittest”, and using his terms, the dinosaurs may have neglected nature and
have been wiped out, leading to the emergence of man. Now if man
neglects nature, the human race may become extinct. But in this world too,
women are surviving in a man’s world, sea creatures and river creatures
and forests are surviving in a human world, plants and flowers and children
in an “adult wild world”. Imagine for a moment, if some men and women
settled on Mars or Venus and threw down waste on Planet Earth, what
would happen to the planet??? Think and act-before that happens!!!!!
Consider this-many species of plants and animals on our planet are at risk,
and in most cases, they are threatened by human beings (birds being
poached?). The most common cause of extinction is loss of habitat-the
places where wild animals and plants live are taken over or altered by
people.
45
46. The most famous example of this is the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
Everyday vast areas of rainforest are cleared to make room for farms, roads
and towns. Many thousands of species could be wiped out and lost forever
unless the destruction of the forest is halted.
Let us sing at this stage
From Bretton Woods to the Amazon Woods / the Giant Redwood, have we
come a long way???
There are many other examples: the Giant Panda has been pushed out of
large areas of its natural habitat in Northern China. Hunting and poaching
have also been responsible for the extinction of many species in the past,
and many others are threatened now.
The Siamese Crocodile has been hunted for its skin and is now extinct in
the wild. It survives only on crocodile farms in Thailand. The North
American Red Wolf has suffered a similar fate: there are now very few left
except in zoos.
Tigers are in danger because their jungle homes have been destroyed; they
have been hunted for their skins and killed by farmers who accuse them of
killing livestock. Despite the ban on the trade in rhino horn and elephant
ivory, we come to hear of instances of ivory trade and horn trade.
Man’s mind is getting polluted. While the WWF acts to protect wildlife,
man sits at Trump Plaza and watches WWF-the World Wrestling
Federation and cheers on brute aggression?????
It is time we built natural reserves for our animals, and the money paid by
visitors helped to pay for the costs of running such a reserve, providing
safety and security to the animal concerned. Let us in our own lives love
46
47. and protect our pets- take them to the veterinary hospital as and when
required. Let us practice pet therapy for our (pet) animals.
Let us protect the vital rainforests of South and Central America, Southeast
Asia and Central Africa, which contain at least half of all the world’s plant
and animal species. Yet, these forests are being destroyed or damaged at
the rate of about 50,000 hectares each day. Almost half of the world’s
rainforests have disappeared in the last fifty years.
Most of the destruction is caused by poor people desperately trying to find
land for farming. They clear and burn an area of forest and plant their crops
but after two or three years the soil loses its fertility and produces fewer
crops and the people move on to clear a new area of forest. This way the
vital rainforests are becoming extinct.
In the distant past, I remember having read in the newspapers that an
injured whale had been dragged on to the beach in some part of Asia (in
some part of the Earth? distant??) and the media were taking photographs
of it, what a pity! (how the media glamorizes events! the paparazzi chased
Princess Diana to a death she did not deserve. the Diana Memorial Appeal
now works for victims of land mines, yes, the environment is involved).
(Lady Diana touched a malnourished child in Africa, she touched a child at
Nirmal Hriday –Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, she
obliged the International Red Cross at Sudan, she did so much for the
world, really!). But before we talk of working for the world, let us come
down to earth and take blessings from God.
God bless
Every desert
Every scrub and semi desert
47
48. Every tropical rain forest
Every savanna
Every temperate forest
Every coniferous forest
Every tundra and ice forest
And
Every other species of plant or animal that has adapted itself to its
immediate natural environment.
What is natural and what is artificial?
What is natural-music of the mountains, the rivers, the seas, the blue sky,
the beautiful waterfalls, the glaciers, the free bird, the free tiger ((not to
roam about the cities (then they would, ‘perhaps’, pose a threat to man) but
in their natural habitat)) – again man has sensed a threat to his own
security, he craves for peace, man may have peeped into a “natural history
museum” and sensed that the Earth is in danger.
Very soon, the tiger will roam the streets freely, and apes and gorillas will
hang onto city trees, and strange - looking populace wearing space suits
and calling themselves Robo- cops and singing ‘ we are the Robo boys and
girls’ (!), and carrying strange cyber- paraphernalia in their hands will land
in an “unidentified flying object (UFO)” called “Stars of Mars” to facilitate
a process called “Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind” (Are we not
forgetting the Third World ?)
Yes, the Earth is in danger, because human beings are neglecting the
planet, damaging our planet in a number of ways-by destroying the habitats
48
49. in which plants and animals live, by using up precious resources too
quickly and by pollution. Transport is the major source of air pollution.
Cars are especially damaging to the environment because of the poisonous
exhaust gases they produce, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides
and sulphur oxides. Air is also being polluted by heating homes, burning
forests, some factory pollution involving burning fossil fuels-oil, gas and
coal and burning wastes.
Water pollution occurs with toxic chemicals, oil (yes, oil can pollute the
sea, when oil tankers run aground or collide and leak) and sewage (yes, our
beautiful seas and oceans are being contaminated). Chemical fertilizers and
pesticides damage the soil. Added to this, is the destruction of parts of the
ozone layer mostly over Antarctica, also over North America, Asia, Europe
and Australia. Another major problem is “global warming”. The
atmosphere traps in some of the heat we get from the sun. This is called the
“green house effect”. Many scientists think that too much heat is being
trapped in because we are adding to the amounts of certain gases in the
atmosphere. These “green house gases” mainly carbon dioxide and
methane- are produced by factories and by the burning of forests to make
way for cities and farmland. If the world’s temperature does increase even
by a few degrees, the polar ice caps could begin to melt, raising the sea
level and flooding many coastal areas. In other places, food crops could be
destroyed by hotter drier climates, and wild life could be threatened with
extinction.
Most scientists believe that the universe began with the “Big Bang”, a huge
explosion that occurred about 18 thousand million years ago. Since then,
the universe has been expanding outwards at an enormous speed. Some
49
50. astronomers believe that the earth will stop growing and then collapse back
again, ending in a “big crunch”. Hope that never happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some others believe that the Earth is in danger because there are chances
that the sun will run out of fuel. When this happens, it will expand to
become a red giant and swallow up the earth and most of the other planets.
The sun will then become more dense and explode, destroying the rest of
the solar system. All that will remain will be a tiny dwarf star.
Very soon we shall all be singing, twinkle
twinkle little star how I wonder where you are????
Yes, stars (under present circumstances of pollution) cannot be seen in the
skies at night????
50
51. CHAPTER 4A
Peace comes only from loving,
from mutual self-sacrifice
and self-forgetfulness.
Few today have humility
or wisdom enough
to know the world’s
deep need of love.
We are too much possessed
by national and racial
and cultural pride.
- Horace W. B. Donegan
My life has been an intensely happy one, not only in my family circle, but
also in the world outside it…
Looking back on a life of over eighty years, I realize how short life is and
how little worthwhile are anger and political warfare.
The most worthwhile thing is to try and put a bit of happiness into the lives
of others.
- Excerpts from Robert Baden Powell’s farewell message “to the general
public”.
Today we are so interdependent, so closely interconnected with each other
that without a sense of universal responsibility, a feeling of universal
brotherhood and sisterhood, and an understanding and belief that we really
51
52. are part of one big human family, we cannot hope to overcome the dangers
to our very existence – let alone bring about peace and happiness.
- The Dalai Lama, from “A Human Approach to World Peace”
If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human
relationships- the ability of all people of all kinds to live together and work
together in the same world, at peace.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
The time comes in the life of any nation when there remains only two
choices – submit or fight. That time should never again come in the life of
any nation…. let us try to achieve “true” liberation without bloodshed and
civil clash –
-Anonymous
“Human Security” binds together all people and all nations, and it can be
addressed only through “sustainable human development” strategies, not
through the acquisition of ever-more-powerful weapons. This security
consists of the security of people in their homes, in their jobs, in their
communities, in their environment. There is need for preventive diplomacy
on the part of the international community….also, any decline in global
military spending can be (translated into improved human development)
and used to finance the world’s social agenda.
What we need now is a pressurizing for reduced global military spending
and to make an explicit link between reduced military spending and
increased social spending…
52
53. The industrial nations should be persuaded to close their military bases,
phase out their military assistance and eliminate their subsidies to exporters
of arms…
A major concern of many countries in the future must be to avoid violent
social dislocations-especially-ethnic conflicts. To achieve “social
integration”, measures to promote more equal opportunities for all include:
equality before the law – to bring about an integrated society, we
must ensure basic legal rights for all;
rights of the minority – countries must ensure minority rights,
including those related to minority culture;
antidiscrimination policies – measures to counter discrimination (and
application of penalties for violation) should be taken by
governments;
education – governments must ensure that all sections of society
have access to basic education respecting local cultures and
traditions;
employment – the state should make employment opportunities
available to disadvantaged and marginalized sections like women;
and,
governance – should be brought closer to the people, through
decentralization and accountability, by promotion of grass-roots
organizations and by creation of avenues for people’s direct
participation.
53
54. - (Source: Human Development Report, UNDP,’ 94).
“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall
they learn war any more.”
This prophecy did not come true with the end of the Cold War. At any one
time, many military conflicts are going on in “trouble areas” globally.
These conflicts are increasingly threatening the lives of military as well as
civilian populace. At the beginning of the 20th Century, around 90% of war
casualties were military. As of now, about 90%, disastrously, are civilian!
One of the greatest worries of the 20th century was the extent to which
whole societies were militarizing themselves. This fear will pervade the
21st Century as well…
In weak democracies, armed forces have been positioned strong enough to
direct the political process and subvert democracy.
Armed conflicts within states increasing: of the 82 armed conflicts between
1989 and 1992, only 3 were inter-state. Most conflicts are in developing
countries. But, practically, all regions have experienced conflicts-Bosnia
Herzegovina in Europe; Iraq, Israel and Lebanon in the Middle East;
Colombia and Guatemala in Latin America; India, Myanmar and Tajikistan
in Asia; and Angola, Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda in Africa. More than half
of conflicts in 1993 took the lives of 4 to 6 million people. These conflicts
have caused millions to flee their countries to avoid repression and death,
creating a trend in “war-induced international migration”.
Since 1945, millions of people have perished in wars and other conflicts
and the numbers are simply not abating. Kashmir, a center of strife within
54
55. the Indian sub-continent has seen thousands of casualties in the past years.
Unless national and international communities take concrete action, deaths
will continue unabated.
Despite all the brouhaha over the global agenda of human insecurity, world
military spending still equals the income of nearly half the world’s people
(as of 1992).
The continuing nuclear threat: the threat of nuclear war has definitely
dwindled, but it has by no means disappeared. A major concern is nuclear
proliferation. In addition to the five nuclear powers (China, France, Russia,
the United Kingdom and the United States), there are states like India,
Israel and Pakistan which have the capacity to deploy nuclear weapons on
short notice. On the positive side, 3 other states (Argentina, Brazil and
South Africa) had halted nuclear weapons development as of 1992. It was
further proposed to extend the 1967 Non-Proliferation Treaty after 1995.
However, some countries complain of “Nuclear Apartheid”, and some
developing countries feel that nuclear technology can have “non-nuclear”
uses. Some countries feel threatened by their neighbors and value the
possession of nuclear weapons. What is most important is removal of the
causes of conflict.
The human cost of military spending in developing countries is enormous.
As of 1992-94, 12% of military spending could be diverted to health
(preventable, infectious disease, malnourishment, access to safe water,
primary health care including immunization), 4% to education (primary
education, adult literacy, female literacy) and 8% to population control
(basic family planning services and family welfare)… In developing
countries, people are 33 times more likely to die from social neglect
55
56. (malnutrition and preventable diseases) than from war. Yet, there are 20
military personnel for 1 doctor…
Arms spending eat up precious resources than could otherwise be spent on
human development. Some of the world’s poorest countries – Angola,
Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique and Pakistan spend more on their armed
forces than on public education and health.
High military spending among poor countries
GNP p. capita Military Expenditure
Country ($US) p.c. ($ US)
1991 1990/91
Sudan 400 23.3
Ethiopia 120 14.9
Chad 210 10.7
Burkina Faso 290 10.5
Mozambique 80 9.5
Mali 270 6.8
Promoting human security globally will be a tedious process. The future of
world disarmament demands higher goodwill between the ‘North’ and the
‘South’- the creation of new fora for peace discussions, regulation of trade
in arms and a novel role for the United Nations. The Third World urgently
needs disarmament. The job is only half done. Let us-
i) Establish fora for disarmament: first of all, let us start with existing fora
such as the Organization for African Unity (OAU); the Organization of
American States (OAS); the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC); the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN); the Non-Aligned Movement; etc. Some neighboring
countries can apply some pressure towards peace. The Tegucigalpa
56
57. Commitment (Dec. 1991) by six central heads of state is a good
beginning.
The UN could involve itself more forcefully. It has already taken
initiatives on one of the worst killers-land mines;
ii) Defuse tensions around the globe: since opposition parties and domestic
public opinion may treat peace alliances as unrequired interference, it
would be better to involve the United Nations in major problems. We
should bear in mind that these problems may arise from economic,
social and natural causes. a former UN Secretary-General has said in his
‘Agenda for Peace’ :
“Drought and disease can decimate no less mercilessly than the
weapons of war. So at this moment of renewed opportunity, the efforts
of the organization to build peace, stability and security must encompass
matters beyond military threats in order to break the fetters of strife and
warfare that have characterized the past.”
To conclude, the role of the UN in development must be strengthened;
iii) Phase out military assistance: military bases, which contribute to the
militarization of developing countries, should be phased out;
iv) Regulate the arms trade: commercial arms traders have no regrets about
making profits out of poverty – selling “high-fidelity” jet fighters or
nuclear bombs to nations in which millions struggle to survive each day
in their lives. Not only this, arms are supplied to ‘potential’ trouble
areas, leading to further conflict. We must design a concrete policy
framework for regulating the arms trade. Both industrial and developing
countries should cut down on their arms production.
57
58. Chemical weapons and land mines (which cause such terrible suffering
to civilians: globally, millions of land – mines remain buried in
unsuspected locations) should be emphasized. Land mines kill and
maim civilians even when wars are over. Clearing them is very
cumbersome and costly.
The UN should make a list of sophisticated arms, maintain regional
(Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America) registers of armaments, tax
the sales of arms and establish more innovative methods of peace-
keeping;
v) Design a new aid policy dialogue: the need of the hour is to make
allocations of aid subject to a “military: social spending index”, or
giving positive incentives in the form of greater aid to those countries
that are working towards peace;
vi) Agree on criteria for UN mediation in conflicts within nations: the UN
has always intervened in conflicts between nations – through cease-
fires, sanctions and more permanent solutions. However, intricate
questions arise when the UN is called upon to intervene within nations,
with regard to the form of intervention to be made – UN forces,
temporary assistance or long-term development aid?
vii) Create more effective information systems: we need to build up more
effective information systems to follow the movement (s) of arms;
Finally, we need to bear in mind that a genuine improvement in human
security requires the complete harnessing of that one most important
world resource – peace, peace and only peace.
- (Source: Human Development Report, UNDP, 1994)
58
59. I remember what Oscar Arias, winner of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize had to
say:
“…I would like to propose the establishment of a global demilitarization
fund… Let the nations of the world, both rich and poor, commit themselves
to atleast a 3% a year reduction in their military spending levels over the
next five years…
The actual numbers are not important…
Only global cooperation can foster the security, which we have sought for
so long, but which has eluded us so frequently. Let us make a definitive
effort to use the peace dividend for the construction of just, prosperous and
demilitarized societies. And let us capitalize on the benefits of disarmament
to promote and guarantee the rewards of peace.”
– War Crimes Court: the world’s first permanent ‘War Crimes Court’ will
try war crimes, genocide and crime(s) against humanity.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is said to have remarked: “In taking this
action… we reaffirm strong support for international accountability and
bringing to justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity.”
- 25 years after the Vietnam War, the people of Vietnam gave a red carpet
welcome to U.S. President, Bill Clinton, when he visited their country…
even when they are still suffering from the war’s after-effects – the
Vietnam landscape still hiding hundreds upon thousands of mines that
still kill and maim many unaware innocent citizens… a dear price for
the scourge and cruelty of war…
59
60. CHAPTER 4B
TALKING OF THE STARS AND STRIPES,
LET US HOPE THAT THE [UNITED]
‘STATES’ DO NOT START ASKING FOR
SEPARATE STATEHOOD, WE WANT TO
SEE NO MORE SOCIAL DISINTEGRATION
OR ETHNIC CLEANSING, WE WANT TO SEE
PEACE.
In recent years, some parts of the world have changed dramatically. In
1989, revolutions spread through the countries of Eastern Europe, and the
people drove out the Communist leaders who had ruled them since 1945. In
1991, the USSR suffered a similar fate, and that vast country broke up into
15 separate states.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, the policy known as “Apartheid” was coming
to an end. Since 1948, color of skin formed the basis of segregation
between the whites and the non-whites. The ANC or African National
Congress fought for change for many years, and in May 1994, Nelson
Mandela became the country’s first Black President.
When Civil War broke out in the former Yugoslavia, UN peacekeeping
forces were sent in to intervene, at a place where atrocities were being
carried out on women and children. At this moment, I feel there should be
an “international government”(apart from the UN) composed of all nations,
60
61. with one principal “shareholder” in each nation, a group of individuals
committed to human rights, peace, poverty, and the environment.
Institutions can be set up for the Ghetto populace in America, the homeless
in Britain, street children in the Third World, those sleeping on the streets,
etc, by this international government. The need for such a government
arises because most other organizations will serve only particular countries-
e.g. NATO will serve only countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance,
the Colombo Plan will serve only member countries, SAARC will serve
only SAARC countries etc.
Coming back to world political affairs, let us judge the present situation.
Hijacking of aircraft, plenty of ethnic cleansing going on, social
disintegration, sabotage, espionage, nationalistic sentiments rising and
differences within the ranks of national leaders. Does it not seem that the
world is heading for frozen peace??? The era of good feelings that followed
the collapse of communism has ended. It has been on the wane for some
time. Europe, particularly, is in danger of plunging (after Kosovo, Poland,
the USSR, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and
Bulgaria- all experienced revolutions) into a cold peace. A cold peace
could be nearly as tricky to handle as the cold war was.
While the threat of nuclear war (after the nuclear non-proliferation treaty)
has dwindled (or has it?) the risk of small but devastating ethnic or
nationalist wars is rising. We cannot forget the Rwanda massacre in which
innocent children were affected the most. And for years in the birthplace of
Christ, a war has been raging. If only Christ the Lord were alive!!!
61
62. Our message of peace: instead of a toy gun, give a sweet Christmas present
to a child at Kosovo- Pristina. Lord, forgive them, for they know not what
they do, and help us work on the planet as it is.
62
63. CHAPTER 5A
There is no alleviation
for the sufferings of mankind
except veracity of thought and action,
and the resolute facing
of the world as it is.
- Thomas H. Huxley
Questions on “survival” in the
Third World have always haunted me.
Whenever I journey by train,
I look at the countryside, the barren fields,
the huts; etc. my mind tries to trace
and locate the answer:
how does an average
man in the Third World “survive” (e.g. in extreme summers or in extreme
winters)?
World Economic Crisis: some fundamental issues:
Our world economy is passing through a phase of unprecedented crisis. At
one end, are the problems of population explosion, food shortages and total
depletion of raw materials, energy and non-renewable resources-a long
term perspective on which was laid down by Dennis L. Meadows and his
team, who concluded that: “If the present growth trends in world
population, industrialization, pollution, food production and resource
depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on the planet will be
reached some time within the next one hundred years. The most probable
63
64. result will be a rather and uncontrollable decline in both population and
industrial capacity.” And then there is the most immediate and pressing
problem of debt burden of the developing countries, the incidence of which
is quite staggering.
The other important dimensions of the world economic crisis include:
a) slow growth of global output – particularly, output of the developed
countries;
b) sharp increase in the unemployment rate in the developed countries;
c) persistence of acute poverty, destitution, low purchasing power among
the millions of the third world;
d) persisting of and widening of the gaps in income levels, technology,
resources, etc. between the developed and the developing countries;
e) continued disillusionment with the abilities of international institutions,
such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
UNCTAD and GATT to deal with the problems of developing
countries.
Statistics alone cannot provide good insight into the major intricacies of
factors responsible for and remedies for dealing with the current economic
crisis. The need of the hour is to trace the origin of the current crisis. With
regard to the above, several misconceptions and wrong perceptions – some
in the vested interests have arisen, and a number of fundamental issues are
being neglected.
There are many paradoxes to the present crisis:
– firstly, the world economic situation was never considered a crisis as
long as phenomena such as high rate of unemployment, poor resources,
64
65. high incidence of poverty, etc. were confined to the developing
countries even though they accounted for 2/3 rd of the world
population. The situation became a crisis as soon as the same
phenomena started engulfing the developed countries those have near
total command over the reins of the world economic system;
– secondly, surprisingly, the problems which the south presents to the
north – such as poverty, resource constraints etc. are being experienced
by the North itself. It is to be noted that developed countries are not so
much concerned about the South which are restructuring the world
trading system, as they are for themselves;
– again, paradoxically, at a time when the South was trying to realize
better and fairer returns to the producers of primary products, it was
being punished by significant falls in commodity prices;
– fourthly, countries claiming to be intellectually rigorous are
“disastrously” adopting restrictionist policies to meet their internal
crisis. Further, those countries professing liberalism and a free
environment for production and trade have themselves adopted highly
protectionistic policies…
Even as way back as 1977, many thoughtful men had pleaded before the
Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, that the government need
not take drastic measures in response to the trade deficits of 1976, 1977.
Professor Cohen argued: ‘… I do not view the present U.S. trade deficit
with alarm, nor do I feel that radical revision of current U.S. economic
policies is warranted… The present trade deficit signifies neither a serious
deterioration of our competitiveness in international markets nor a
significant loss of a capacity of world economic leadership, although the
fact of a deficit remains…’
65
66. It is clear that the main question is, how should the South pursue its
objectives, particularly, the combating of poverty and fusion of internal
peace and security with development? The “poor” South has long lived
under the illusion that the North is extremely generous in its attitude…
Partial delinking with the North and more effective “South – South”
cooperation is necessary. More attention should be diverted towards bodies
such as OPEC, ASEAN, SAARC, NAM and the Colombo Plan. A separate
Third World Secretariat located at a Third World country (particularly, one
ranked low on the Human Development Index), holding of independent
Third World summit meetings and encouragement of preferential
arrangement for intra-South flows of goods, manpower resources, etc, are
the needs of the hour. A center for science and technology for developing
countries, a “bank” (particularly, micro-credit) for developing countries, a
“research and information system”, a “solidarity fund” for economic and
social development, are now just for remaining on “official machinery
papers”. Concrete action programs should back them. We can also have a
“consortium” or “group” of debtors…
There is need for a new strategy for development. It is high time
developing countries built up more efficiency in agriculture, agro-based
industries and optimum land utilization. W.W. Rostow in his suave
analyses of the world economy has also argued for a shift in “thinking”
from “lame” industrialization to agriculture.
Finally, the world economic crisis should be viewed in its wider
perspectives through less of debates and more of concerted action
following “dialogues” between the North and the South.
The critical role for official development assistance: (developing countries)
(source: BIS Review):
66
67. Developing countries have to be managed well to achieve internal stability
and implement development policies. Aid is a very critical resource in that
it helps countries improve their policies by providing technology, training
people and strengthening institution building.
The question is, how much has actually been accomplished in terms of aid?
Much of the world has changed. We can now communicate across the
globe instantaneously. Countries are now more interdependent. Firms are
producing globally and bankers moving money quickly from one part of
the world to another. The capacity to develop has been improved by
advances in science and technology. Yet, poverty is far from being solved,
and gaps between the world’s rich and the world’s poor have widened.
And, there are now serious problems not earlier perceived, like the
depletion of the ozone layer and Earth Warming, or the “Greenhouse
Effect”.
The aid community now knows that problems are more complex and more
diverse, and human and institutional factors are now more important to
change, as never before. Extraordinary progress has now been made, life
expectancy at birth has gone up, and now there are medicines and cures for
virtually every ailment…
Aid is only one influence in a complicated process, which involves factors
such as open trade policies, trends in commodity prices, the weather and
accumulated debt…
Yet, aid is still not unimportant apart from the uses outlined above, it also
communicates ideas and encourages initiative. It helps build much needed
infrastructure and finances goods needed for production. Aid is important
in disaster management, and has a humanitarian role to play.
67