Articles/World News
The world is an ever changing organism which will either sustain itself or will become an un-inhabitable planet in future times. This part of the Newsletter will therefore look at major issues that will influence the destiny of humankind.
Socio-economic issues:
China and the East Asian economies are developing at a phenomenal rate compared to the industrialised economies of the West. Listed below are some key indicators (which are self evident)
% change on year ago | last 12 months $bn |
Nation | GDP | Industrial Production | trade balance | foreign reserves |
latest | 12 months ago |
China | +8.3 Q1 | +9.0 Mar | +40.0 Feb | 149.2 Jan | 143.7 |
Indonesia | +13.9 Q4 | +14.2 Q2 | +21.1 Jan | 23.8 Jan | 18.1 |
India | +5.0 (1997) | +4.9 Feb | -8.3 Feb | 28.5 Feb | 24.0 |
Malaysia | +8.1 Q4 | + 3.9 Feb | +16.2 Feb | 25.6 Dec | 20.8 |
Taiwan | +3.7 Q4 | +7.9 Mar | +8.7 Mar | 92.6 Feb | 84.0 |
The Economist - May 1st - 7th 1999
Extreme Poverty in the World
According to the World Bank extreme poverty and poverty in
general in the world is increasing by the year. As two examples they say, the former States of the USSR had 14
million people who were classified as in extreme poverty in 1989 but by the mid-1990’s that had risen to an
unbelievable and highly alarming 147 million who lived in extreme poverty; Indonesia’s people who live in extreme
poverty has doubled over the last 2 years. We list below other nations that live in similar conditions. This if not
changed could quite easily turn the world into conflict between the haves and the have-nots. Continual acceleration
of extreme poverty will give these underprivileged people of the world no real option but to fight for survival. These
may be strong words to some, but the reality of the situation says to common-sense, that this cannot continue.
The WIF therefore has to develop the ORE Complex so that new ways can be found to eradicate world poverty
before it is too late to do anything about it. In this respect we may only have a few more decades to reverse the
situation. Many will say that a world war is not possible. To them we say, what would you do in their circumstances,
just simply starve, no you would fight for survival. This is the main reason why we have to build the ORE for
mankind. There has to be a sharing and a redistribution of wealth if the planet is to exist in another 50 years or so.
Indeed, this state of affairs cannot continue any longer if we are to give our future generations any real chance of a
decent life.
We scientists and engineers are the only ones who can physically solve the world’s growing problems. No others
have the technological means to achieve this end. Banks are in this respect impotent for if it were not for the creative
people of this life their money would just simply languish in the vaults of their great institutions.
Examples of Poverty and Poverty related issues in the World today:
- 1 in 6 Israelis are living below the poverty line - Israeli Labor and Social Affairs Minister - December 4, 1998
- Adult mortality has increased in Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union - World Bank, 1999
- Four out of Ten Russians are living on less than US$4 per day - World Bank, 1999
- Global per capita water supplies are declining and are now 30% lower than they were 25 years ago. Further increases in population and economic activity are expected to boost demand for water, exposing many countries to chronic and widespread water shortages. By 2050, as much as 42% of the world’s population will live in countries with insufficient fresh water stocks to meet the combined needs of agriculture, industry and domestic use - World Bank, 1999
- The USA, China, Russia and Japan account for more than 40% of all commercial energy use - World Bank, 1999
- Growing Inequality has increased in Eastern Europe, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia and Thailand. In 34 ‘developing’ countries the richest 20% of the population receive more than 50% of the country’s incomes whilst the poorest 20% gets less than 5%. - World Bank, 1999
- By the age of 75, some 52.6% of white Americans and 91% of black Americans will have had incomes below the federal poverty level for at least one year after they turned 20 - NCPA, 1999
- 30% of all Grenadines are living in poverty - website 1998
- 75% of the world’s poorest people live in the Asia-Pacific region - Save the Children Fund, 1999
- Based on average life expectancy, (American) 20-year-olds today have about a 60% chance of having their annual income dip below the poverty line at some point in their lives - NCPA, 1999
- India still has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 350-400 million are below the poverty line - India OneStop.Com, 1999
- Over 630,000 Australian children are living below the poverty line - Save the Children Fund, 1999
- In Bangladesh, 2 in every 3 children are malnourished. 1 in 3 is forced to work for his or her survival - Save the Children, 1999
- Children bear the heaviest burden of poverty. Throughout the world, whether in the richer or in the poorer countries, children are much more at risk of living in poverty than anyone else. They die because of poverty - Save the Children Fund, 1999
- More than 20% (1,100,000,000) of the world’s people live in extreme poverty on little more than US$1 per day - UNDP, 1999
- Poverty in Hong Kong has almost tripled in the past 25 years and 14% are now living below the poverty line - Internet website,1999
- 20% of all Canadian children live below the poverty line; couples and children experience an 11% rate of poverty and single parent mothers experience 60% rate of poverty - website, 1999