planet earth looks blue

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund put out a report today on the state of the global poor, according to Reuters .  The situation, which  has always been dire, is on the brink of disaster.  While people are trudging along in the developed world, many out of work, and others still employed, or able to find an alternative source of income, this is not the case in the third world.  There aren’t alternative opportunities or ways to cut costs in countries that have always been stretching their dollars.  And its not only the financial crisis - which is constricting international loans, and limiting aid packages, which in many cases are a substantial portion of national budgets.  The high food and fuel prices have been climbing for well over a year now.  They are crippling a huge segment of the world.

What is the solution, where is the light at the end of the tunnel?  Is there one?  As global economies continue to slide, and those that have money, whether it be on an individual level, or a national level, hold on to it, those that depended on some sort of assistance are slipping through the cracks.  Instead of focusing on each other in a time of need, the world is turning inwards, each of us looks to prevent our own ship from sinking.  There is not a feeling of community of brotherhood, and tensions between rich nations and poor nations are rising, just as they are between the rich and the poor in individual nations.

Aside from a sense of global community - what about efficiency?  At least a third of the cost of sending a cargo ship loaded with food and aid to Africa goes to transportation costs.  Millions are dispersed, sometimes billions, but why does most foreign aide money go towards militaries and arms?  How is this going to ever create anything?  How are individuals, like Greg Mortenson, who built dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, starting out with a couple hundred dollars, able to make positive change, while governments continually throw their hands up in the air and say, we don’t know where all the money went.

Are we on a precipice right now?  Looking forward, truthfully, what do we see?  The IMF predicts that the global economy will shrink this year by 1.3 %, and world trade will slip by 11%.  There is talk of recovery, but economists agree we are more likely to see more steps backward, before we can move ahead.  In the mean time, the decisions we make today, whether to help the other sinking ships or not, and whether we can unravel the efficiency rubix cube, will impact the emerging world order.  As difficult as it may be to give more, unified prosperity is the only real prosperity.