March 1, 2003

Our Global Village B North and South

Global Village? A term surely coined by the North

To entice us into believing we all get along

In the South, it feels more like a permanent slum

A favela, a barriada, perhaps a parched hell

A desert whose odor is that of human waste

A testimony to our violent past, our 191 countries

Are shaped arbitrarily, borders often drawn by victors

More intent on dividing and ruling than uniting

Did you note the small size of the oil-richest countries?

Or how watersheds are made to separate, not join users?

In 1960, the richest among us earned 30 times

What the poorest earned. Now it is 70 times

And every year, the disparity is widening faster

The combined income of half a percent of us

Equals the combined income of 43 percent of us

The United States, with 5 percent of the population

Terrifies all others with its present war on terrorism

The 400 billion dollars it spends yearly on its military

Is less to fight any possible credible enemy in sight

Than to achieve its aim of full dominance in space

Giddy with the brazen arrogance of a new Empire

The U.S. has sabotaged treaties on missiles, race

Nuclear arsenals, biological weapons, land mines

Terrorism, global warming, the rights of the child

Biosafety, biodiversity, torture and a criminal court

The South has most of our biological resources

A wealth now being decimated at a vertiginous rate

It contains the country where one in four has HIV

It spawns the child dying every 8 seconds due to bad water

It has the three billion of us without access to sanitation

Market rights, not human rights, cross borders easily

Pollution, wastes and predation flow North to South

Genes and intellectual heritage flow South to North

The North gives the South 50 billion dollars yearly

The South loses to the North 500 billion dollars yearly

The North=s language embeds its view of the South

The South is Aprimitive,@ Aundeveloped,@ Aless advanced@

Its knowledge is Aunscientific,@ its resources Araw material@

Its agriculture Alow yield,@ its forestry Aslow growth@

It must Aprogress,@ Amodernize,@ be Amore efficient@

But the North sells seeds which do not germinate

And its monocultures are very vulnerable to diseases

The industrialized farming practices it has given us

Have in only one century led to the obliteration

Of 75 percent of our agricultural genetic diversity

Such is the state of our Global Village

Shall we fix it?

How?

Notes

Perhaps a Parched Hell

Barlow, p. 24. UNDP 1999, p.148.

Thirty-one countries, most of them in the South, are currently facing water stress and scarcity. The South has almost all of the one billion people who have no access to clean drinking water.

A Desert whose Odor is that of Human Waste

Barlow, p. 24. UNDP 1999, p. 148.

The South has almost all of the three billion people who have no access to sanitation services.

Did you note the small size of the oil-richest countries?

Klare, pp. 44-45; UNDP 2001, pp 154-157 and 238.

Over half of the estimated global reserves of petroleum, is in the hands of four countries whose combined population is 0.77 percent of the total world population:

Percent of World Percent of World

Estimated Reserves Total Population

Saudi Arabia 25 0.33

Iraq 11 0.37

United Arab Emirates 9 0.04

Kuwait 9 0.03

Total 54 0.77

In 1960, the Richest among us earned 30 times

Mahajan, p. 103; UNDP 2001, p. 20.

The income ratio between the richest 20 percent and the poorest 20 percent of the world=s population, based on country averages, has been as follows:

1960 30

1970 34

1990 60

1997 70

The Combined Income of Half a Percent

UNDP 2001, p. 19.

In 1988-93, the combined income of the richest 10 percent of the United States population B around 25 million people, or 0.42 percent of the 5.863 billion world population B had a combined income greater than that of the poorest 43 percent of the world=s population (around 2 billion people).

The United States, with 5 percent of the Population

UNDP 2001, pp. 154 and 156.

The United States population was 280.4 million in 1999, when the total world population was 5.863 billion.

The 400 billion Dollars (the United States) spends yearly on its Military

Mahajan, Presentation, 09/02.

Than It is to achieve its Aim of Full Dominance in Space

Grossman, Karl.

Vision for 2020, the United States Space Command, 1996 Report, gives its raison d=etre: AU.S. Space Command B dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect U.S. interests and investments B integrating Space Forces into war-fighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict... The globalization of the world economy will... continue, with a widening gap between the Ahaves@ and Ahave-nots...@.

The U.S. has sabotaged Treaties

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

Bennis, pp. 2-3 and 10; Mahajan, p. 22.

The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerences

Bennis, pp. 15-20.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Bennis, pp. 2-3 and 10; Mahajan, p. 140.

The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Bennis, pp. 12-13; Mahajan, pp. 140-141.

The Anti-personnel Land Mine Treaty

Bennis, p. 1; Mahajan, p. 46.

(Terrorism) The International Court of Justice; United Nations Security Council Resolutions

Bennis 172-173; Olshansky, pp. 59-62. Mahajan, p. 143.

The Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change

Bennis, pp. 3 and 10; Mahajan, p. 22; UNDP 2001, p. 200.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

UNDP 2001, p. 230.

The Biosafety Protocol

Anderson, Luke, p. 98.

The Convention on Biological Diversity

Shiva, Monocultures, p. 152; UNDP 2001, p. 200.

The United Nations Conventions against Torture; The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights

Millett pp. 13 and 305-306; Olshansky, pp. 7, 23-24, 47-48, 52, 54-58, 60 and 75.

The International Criminal Court

Bennis, pp. 1 and 10; Mahajan, pp. 143-144.

The South has most of our Biological Resources

Anderson, Luke, p. 81; Shiva, Monocultures, p. 65.

The Third Word contains over 95 percent of the world=s genetic resources. Tropical moist forests cover only 7 percent of the earth=s land surface but contain at least half of the earth=s species.

A Wealth now being decimated at a Vertiginous Rate

Anderson, Luke, p. 52; Shiva, Monocultures, p. 66.

During the 1990's, species were being extinguished at the rate of 10,000 a year, an increase from 1000 species a year in 1980's. Some estimates put the figure as high as 30,000 species a year during the 1990's.

(The South) contains the Country where One in Four has HIV

UNDP 2001, p. 163; Mahajan, p. 108.

About 20-25 percent of South Africa=s population in the reproductive ages, is thought to be infected with the AIDS virus.

(The South) spawns the Child dying every 8 Seconds due to Bad Water

Barlow, p.52; UNDP 1999, p.148; UNDP 2001, pp. 149-150.

(The South) has the Three billion of us without Access to Sanitation

Barlow, p. 24; UNDP 1999, p. 148.

Market Rights, not Human Rights, cross Borders easily

Anderson, Sarah; Shiva, Protect or Plunder?

Pollution, Wastes and Predation North to South

Pollution and Wastes:

UNDP 2001, p. 200; Gelbspan, p. 110 and 113.

The United States is responsible for 23 percent of the world=s total carbon dioxide emissions. Developed countries may account for as much as 80 percent of the world=s pollution. To achieve stabilization of the atmosphere, the industrial world would have to cut its emission by 60-70 percent below 1990 levels.

Predation

Blum, pp. 125-167; Klare, p.15.

The United States=s share of the yearly consumption of raw materials by the world population, is approximately 30 percent. In the past 50 years, the United States has intervened overtly or covertly to further its own power in over 60 nations, most of them in the South.

Genes and Intellectual Heritage flow South to North

Shiva, Monocultures.

The South loses to the North 500 billion Dollars Yearly

Shiva, Protect or Plunder?, p. 23.

While $50 billion flows annually from the North to the South in terms of aid, the South loses $500 billion every year in terms of interest payments on debt and loss of fair prices for commodities due to unequal terms of trade.

The North=s Language embeds its View of the South

Shiva, Monocultures.

Bibliography

Anderson, Luke, Genetic Engineering, Food, and Our Environment (Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont), 1999/2000.

Anderson, Sarah, Views from the South B The Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third World Countries (Food First/International Forum on Globalization, Chicago, IL), 2000.

Barlow, Maude, and Tony Clarke, Blue Gold B The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World=s Water (The New Press, New York, N.Y.), 2002.

Bennis, Phyllis, Before and After B US Foreign Policy and the September 11^th Crisis (Olive Branch/Interlink, New York, N.Y.), 2003.

Blum, William, Rogue State B A Guide to the World=s Only Superpower (Common Courage, Monroe, Maine), 2000.

Gelbspan, Ross, The Heat is On B The Climate Crisis, The Cover-up, The Prescription (Perseus, Reading, MA), 1998.

Grossman, Karl, Weapons in Space (Seven Stories, Open Media, N.Y.), 2001.

Klare, Michael, Resource Wars B The New Landscape of Global Conflict (Henry Holt, New York, N.Y.), 2001.

Mahajan, Rahul

The New Crusade B America=s War on Terrorism (Monthly Review Press, New York, N.Y.), 2002.

Presentation, 09/02, transmitted by Alternative Radio, KGNU, Boulder, CO, 09/18/02.

Millett, Kate, The Politics of Cruelty B An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment (W. W. Norton, New York, N.Y.), 1994.

Olshansky, Barbara, Secret Trials and Executions B Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy (Seven Stories, Open Media, N.Y.), 2002.

Shiva, Vandana

Monocultures of the Mind B Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biotechnology (Zed Books, New York, N.Y.), 1993.

Protect or Plunder? Understanding Intellectual Property Rights (Zed Books, New York, N.Y.), 2001.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Human Development Report 1999 (UNDP, New York, N.Y.), 1999.

Human Development Report 2001 B Making New Technologies work for Human Development (UNDP, New York, N.Y.), 2001.

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