A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis. CHAPTER 1: INDIFFERENCE (Part 28). This blog is a continuation of the review of The Inner Limits of Mankind by Ervin Laszlo, written in 1989.
The Third World’s goals and expectations
The great regions of the Third World are Latin America, Black Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. Jointly these regions account for about 75% of the human population, and their share may grow as high as 90% by the middle of the next century. The great masses of Latin America conduct an intense love-affair with Western-style industrialization and economic growth, hoping to duplicate the miracles of West Germany and Japan. The upper 1% of the population controls about 30% of the wealth, while the lower 69% control merely about 20%.
Extremes of wealth and poverty
In January 2015 Oxfam published its report based on statistics provided by Credit Suisse showing that the share of the world’s wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014 while the least well-off 80% currently own just 5.5% of the world’s wealth. There has been a $600 billion increase in wealth for the top 80 billionaires in four years while there was a $750 billion drop in wealth for the poorest 50% of the world. On present trends the day is not far away when 1% of the world’s population will own more than the remaining 99% combined.
The economic miracle remains but a dream
Some 40% of the population are still engaged in relatively primitive forms of agriculture, and for them, and for those in the shanty towns around the big cities, the economic miracle remains but a dream. Coping with global problems is said to be the responsibility of the superpowers and their developed allies, who created them in the first place. Africa, south of the Sahara is a continent still torn by ethnic struggles and the fight for freedom from all vestiges of colonialism. The first leaders of the independent African states have concentrated on creating some sense of national unity and integrity in their countries, the borders of which were arbitrarily drawn by the European colonial powers.
Development and growth are still the key words
Well-meaning attempts failed for lack of support, and military governments often took their place. Only a few countries, mainly in Western Africa, are experimenting with the implementation of multi-party democracies. The sights of African leaders have shifted several times. After independence they moved from goals of national unity to those of economic growth through the diversification of agriculture and the creation of an industrial base. Now they embrace aims such as a better distribution of the (as yet meager) benefits of development, the revitalization of the indigenous cultures, and the improvement of the educational systems. Development and growth are still the key words, but they have come to mean qualitative socio-economic growth, and the progressive elimination of gaps and injustices.
Searching for a better life in the cities
Internecine struggles among ethnic and power groups, between countries opting for different (Western or socialist) modes of organization, and between the elites and the intellectuals, confuse the picture and obstruct the implementation of effective polices. The overwhelming majority of Black Africans – some 80% – 90% – live a marginal and largely traditional existence. Their imagination, however, has been captured by the miracles of life in the cities and centers of the rich world. It makes the more adventurous and the more desperate among the rural masses leave their roots and search for a better life in the cities. For the most part, like their counterparts in the rest of the developing world, they end up in the outskirts and slums, leading a life that is at least as miserable as the one they left behind.