September 14, 2001

September 11, 2001

Cry, humanity, for your loss is great

A gaping hole disfigures you

An ugly wound maims you

Void reigns where vibrancy once stood

Recoil from the acrid smell of death

The sharp pain in your heart

Fathom the depth of your sorrow

Mourn for what can never be

Then dry your tears and know

Your tragedy was self-inflicted

A punishment meted out by none other but you

The result of your choices about your fate

Of your six billion precious parts

Two hundred have, on the average, assets of 5 billion dollars each

Two and a half billion have, on the average, a yearly income of 440 dollars each

This wealth ratio is 12 million to one

One billion live an average of 77 years

One billion live an average of 55 years

Among one billion, 6 babies of every 1000 born, die before age one

Among half a billion, 105 babies of every 1000 born, die before that age

One billion use 8,600 kilowatts-hours of electricity per year

One billion use 403

One billion live in areas where 86 percent have access to safe water

One billion live where 18 percent have such access

The country which was assaulted has a wealth of $29,080 per person

Of this, $26 goes for aid to poor countries

Four other countries in your world have an average wealth of $28,605 per person

Of their wealth, $223 goes for aid to poor countries

The targeted country comprises 5 percent of your total parts

Yet it emits 22 percent of the carbon dioxide released into your atmosphere

Other countries comprising 7 percent of your total

Emit less than 2 percent of this gas, so toxic to your planet

The targeted country spends $1,031 per person yearly in military expenditures

Yearly, it exports $11 billion worth of conventional weapons to other countries

It is now challenging both the Outer Space Treaty which reserves space for peaceful purposes (1967)

And the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty which it signed with the former Soviet Union (1974)

It has not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)

The Convention on the Rights of Child (1989)

Or the Kyoto Protocol of the Convention on Climate Change (1997)

The issue, humanity, is not whether or how to further injure yourself

B Perhaps even to the point of suicide --

But whether you can bring all your parts into one whole

And learn to live as one on spaceship earth.

***

References

Total World Population

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. The world population in 1997 was estimated to be 5,743.7 million (page 200).

Wealth Ratio

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1998, the assets of the world=s 200 richest people ($1,042 billion) totaled more than the combined yearly income of 41 percent of the world=s population (2.4 billion people) (pages 38 and 200).

Life Expectancy

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, life expectancy at birth in countries ranked in the High Human Development category (population 1,018.2 million), was 77.0 years (pages 168 and 197). Sub-Saharan Africa (population 555.4 million with a life expectancy of 48.9 years) and South Asia excluding India (population 374.1 million with a life expectancy of 63.0 years) together had a total population of 929.5 million with a life expectancy of 54.6 years (pages 171 and 200).

Infant Mortality Rate

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, the infant mortality rate in Industrialized Countries (population 842.0 million) was 6 per 1,000 live births. The rate in Sub-Saharan Africa (population 555.4 million), was 105 per 1,000 live births (pages 171 and 200).

Electricity Consumption

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1996, the electricity consumption in countries ranked in the High Human Development category (population 1,018.2 million), was 8,550 kilowatt-hours per capita (pages 197 and 201). Sub-Saharan Africa (population 555.4 million with a consumption of 399 kilowatt-hours per capita) and South Asia excluding India (population 374.1 million with a consumption of 410 kilowatt-hours per capita) together had a population of 929.5 million with an average consumption of 404.4 kilowatt-hours per capita (pages 200 and 204).

Access to Safe Water

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997 (or the year closest to that year for which data are available), the proportion of the population without access to safe water in the countries ranked in the High Human Development category (population 1,018.2 million), was 14 percent (pages 146 and 197). East Asia excluding China (population 54.8 million of whom 10 percent had access to safe water), South Asia excluding India (population 374.1 million of whom 15 percent had access to safe water), Arab States (population 252.4 million of whom 18 percent had access to safe water), and Latin America and the Caribbean (population 490.4 million of whom 22 percent had access to safe water) together had a population of 1,171.7 million of whom 18.3 percent had access to safe water (pages 148 and 200).

Wealth

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, the wealth of the United States, as measured by its gross national product (GNP), was US $29,080 per capita (page 180).

Net Official Development Assistance

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, the United States had a per capita gross national product (GNP) of US $29,080 (page 180). Its net official development assistance was 0.09 percent of its GNP, that is, US $26.2 per capita (pages 180 and 192). Norway (population 4.4 million with a GNP of US $159.0 billion, of which it gave 0.86 percent as assistance). Sweden (population 8.9 million with a GNP of US $231.9 billion, of which it gave 0.79 percent as assistance). Netherlands (population 15.6 million with a GNP of US $403.1 billion of which it gave 0.81 percent as assistance) and Denmark (population 5.3 million with a GNP of US $184.3 billion of which it gave 0.97 as assistance) together had a population of 34.2 million with a total GNP of US $978.3 billion BUS $28,605 per capita B of which they gave US $8.25 billion B US $241 per capita B as assistance (pages 180, 192 and 197).

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, the United States had a population of 271.8 million and, in 1996, was responsible for 22.2 percent of the world=s total carbon dioxide emissions (pages 197 and 205). South Asia excluding India, with a population of 374.1 million (6.5 percent of the total world=s population of 5,743.7 million) was, in 1996, responsible for 1.6 percent of the world=s carbon dioxide emissions (pages 200 and 208).

Military Expenditures

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, the United States had a gross national product (GNP) of US $7,783.1 billion of which, in 1996, it spent 3.6 percent (US $280.2 billion) on military expenditures. In 1997, the United States population was 271.8 million and hence the military expenditures were US $1,031 per capita (pages 180, 188 and 197).

Exports of Conventional Weapons

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. In 1997, United States= export of conventional weapons was US $10.8 billion (page 188).

International Outer Space Treaty

Grossman, Karl, The Wrong Stuff -- The Space Program=s Nuclear Threat to our Planet (Common Courage), 1997 (page 90); and Weapons in Space (Seven Stories, N.Y.), 2001 (pages 9 and 21-22). The 1967 Outer Space Treaty provides that space be reserved for peaceful purposes only. On November 1, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the Treaty, noting specifically its provision for the peaceful use of space. The vote was 160 in favor, with two abstentions -- the United States and Israel.

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

Grossman, Karl, The Wrong Stuff -- The Space Program=s Nuclear Threat to our Planet (Common Courage), 1997 (page 123). The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was signed in 1974 by the United States and the former Soviet Union.

International Human Rights Instruments

United Nations Human Development Programme, Human Development Report 1999, New York, N.Y. 1999. As of February 1, 1999, the United States had signed but not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change

Gelbspan, Ross, The Heat is On B The Climate Crisis, The Cover-up, The Prescription (Perseus), 1998. As of 1998, the United States had not signed the Kyoto Protocol of the Convention on Climate Change (1997) (pages 108 and 176). As of the present date, the United States has not signed it.