Accents
'The world's greatest challenge'
Bluffton, South Carolina -- The flight from the West to the East Coast of the U.S. of A took some five hours. Envision the Iloilo-Manila trip, back and forth, five times non-stop, and you get the boring picture. Long flights I usually spend reading, and I rued having forgotten to bring with me Jimmy Carter's latest book (c. 2005), OUR ENDANGERED VALUES, which Rose and her husband Timothy gave me last Christmas. When I arrived in South Carolina, the same book was waiting for me, also a Christmas gift from Randy and her husband David. They know I am a fan of this writingest of US presidents who has written nineteen books, most of them best-sellers. From California to South Carolina, it was a from-daughter-to-daughter vacation for Rudy and me. Long intro, huh? Goes to show how far removed this writer is from Bayan Ko.
If OUR ENDANGERED VALUES sounded intriguing, more so is the subtitle: AMERICA'S MORAL CRISIS. The crisis could very well be ours because, like present-day America, the Philippines is in a shoddy situation-politically, economically, socially, morally. Morally mired most deeply, the lack or absence of moral values being the root cause of the political, social, and economic adversities our country is experiencing.
I focus on the chapter, The World's Greatest Challenge in the New Millennium, because the Philippines like America, so is the rest of the world, shares the challenge. Writes Carter: "The greatest challenge we face is the growing chasm between the rich and poor people on earth. There is not only a great disparity between the two, but the gap is steadily widening." Carter cites statistics: "At the beginning of the last century, the ten richest countries were nine times wealthier than the ten poorest ones. In 1960, the ratio was 30:1. At the beginning of this century, average income per person in the twenty richest nations was $27,591 and in the poorest nations only $211, a ratio of 131:1!" Go shake your head at this drastic drop in the percentage of the rich to the poor!
When we were young, and I'm now past sixty, we used to refer to America as the "land of milk and honey." Many Filipinos migrated to the United States in pursuit of the so-called American Dream. Even now, not a few think of making it big in the U.S. of A., touted to be the wealthiest country in the world. Yet 37 Million Poor (Are) Hidden in the Land of Plenty, thus Paul Harris wrote in The Observer, 19 February 2006. His figures are startling:
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There are 37 million Americans living below the poverty line.That figure has increased by 5 million since Pres. George W. Bush came to power.
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The United States has 269 billionaires, the highest number in the world.
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There are 82,000 homeless people in Los Angeles alone.
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The richest town in America is Rancho Santa Fe in California. Average incomes are more than $100,000 a year; the average house price is $1.7 million.
In the homeland, the disparity hits you in the gut when you picture the posh Forbes Park and Ayala Alabang mansions in stark contrast with the rickety shacks along Manila's railroad tracks. In the entire archipelago, chic subdivisions have risen cut off only by a perimeter fence from the hovels of the poor. And what cannot be denied is the pitiable hand-to-mouth existence of the huge masses of our people.
The destitute of the earth are also the most vulnerable to diseases. Every month, 165,000 die of Malaria, 140,000 of diarrhea, and 240,000 of AIDS. "About $2.50 a year from each American and European citizen could mount an effective global fight against malaria," says Carter. He deplores the unwise use of US foreign aid that mostly goes to American consultants who luxuriously station themselves in the needy nations. How true when you come to think of the highly paid visiting consultants in our shores.
"Sharing wealth with those that are starving and suffering unnecessarily is a value by which a nation's moral values are measured... If we add all the donations from American foundations and from other private sources to the government funds, the total still amounts to just twenty-two cents per $100 of national income" says Carter of US foreign aid to the world's poorest nations.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees for all persons a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and their families. Working toward this standard-to boot, bridging the gap between the rich and the poor-is The Carter Center founded by the former president and his wife Rosalynn. It is a nonprofit organization that aims to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health around the world. His achievements in the Center earned for Pres. Carter the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Narrowing the gaping chasm between the rich and the poor is the challenge Jimmy Carter is posing to the leaders of the world.
(Comments to lagoc@hargray.com)