-Caveat Lector- >LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE - November 1998 > > The politics of hunger > by IGNACIO RAMONET > > >Now here's a statistic you might have missed. The total wealth of the >world's three richest individuals is greater than the combined gross >domestic product (1) of the 48 poorest countries - a quarter of all the >world's states. Everybody knows inequality has increased over the last 20 >years of unfettered ultra-liberalism. But who could have imagined the gap >had widened so far? In 1960 the income of the 20 % of the world's >population living in the richest countries was 30 times greater than that >of the 20 % in the poorest countries. > >Now we learn that in 1995 it was 82 times greater (2). In over 70 >countries, per capita income is lower today than it was 20 years ago. >Almost three billion people - half the world's population - live on less >than two dollars a day. While goods are more abundant than ever before, the >number of people without shelter, work or enough to eat is constantly >growing. Of the 4_ billion people giving in developing countries, almost a >third have no drinking water. A fifth of all children receive an >insufficient intake of calories or protein. And two billion people - a >third of the human race - are suffering from anemia. > >Is this the way it has to be? The answer is no. The UN calculates that the >whole of the world population's basic needs for food, drinking water, >education and medical care could be covered by a levy of less than 4 % on >the accumulated wealth of the 225 largest fortunes. To satisfy all the >world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only $13 billion, >hardly as much as the people of the United States and the European Union >spend each year on perfume. ....... >Consider, for example, the right to food. Food is not in short supply. In >fact, food products have never been so abundant. There is enough available >to provide each of the Earth's inhabitants with at least 2,700 calories a >day. But production alone is not enough. The people who need the food must >be able to buy it and consume it. And that is precisely the problem. Thirty >million people a year die of hunger. And 800 million suffer from chronic >malnutrition. ........ DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
