"The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the
greatest
spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine
the
joy that will burst into the world on the day of that great
revolution."
Federico Garcia Lorca
--------------------------
UN spells out the stark choice:
Do More for World's Poor or Face Disaster
Larry Elliott, economics editor
Thursday September 8, 2005
The Guardian
The world is heading for a "heavily signposted human development
disaster" of needless child deaths, illiteracy and abject poverty
unless urgent steps are taken to boost aid, open up western markets and
end conflict, the UN warned last night.
In advance of next week's summit in New York to assess how much has
been achieved towards meeting the millennium development goals agreed
five years ago, the report shows that the UN member states' progress
has been "depressingly slow" and that the "promise to the world's poor
is being broken".
Redistributing 1.6% of the income of the richest 10% of the global
population would provide the $300 billion needed to lift the 1 billion
people living on less than a dollar a day out of extreme poverty...
....achieving sustainable poverty reduction requires dynamic processes
allowing poor countries and their inhabitants to produce their way out
of deprivation. This means scaling up aid, breaking down trade barriers
and halting civil wars. Since 1990 increased prosperity in rich
countries has done little to to enhance generosity, the report says:
per capita income has increased by $6,070, while per capita aid has
fallen by $1.
...for every $1 rich countries spend on aid, they allocate $10 to
military spending. "Just the increase in defence spending since 2000,
if devoted to aid instead, would be sufficient to reach the ... UN
target of spending 0.7% [of gross national income] on aid. Spending on
HIV/Aids represents three days of military spending."
above is an excerpt only. The whole article is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1564847,00.html
http://snipurl.com/hkrq
=================================
"...mankind [will advance] into a civilization and a state of
consciousness in which right human relations and worldwide cooperation
for the good of all will be the universal keynote." Djwhal Khul
---------------------------------
"The developed nations of the world cannot remain secure islands of
prosperity in a seething sea of poverty. The storm is rising against
the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter
in isolation and armament. The storm will not abate until a just
distribution of the fruits of the earth enables men everywhere to live
in dignity and human decency."
Martin Luther King, Jr
=================================
"Without sharing there can be no justice;
without justice there can be no peace;
without peace there can be no future."
The World Teacher
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