Word: poore
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...world's opinion. It doesn't. The Olympics is a huge public-relations exercise for domestic consumption. The majority of Chinese will see on TV only happy, smiling, competitors (with no doubt a huge proportion of Chinese winners) and none of the debate regarding freedom or human right. The poor and disenfranchised will not benefit from the Games; on the contrary, many have suffered directly because of the ill-considered decision to hand the Olympics to China. Karen Ho, Coolum, Queensland...
...convince the business élite that it is in their interest to care about the world's less fortunate [Aug. 11]. Both individuals have used their influence to do great things. But let's not forget that our elected representatives must be the ones held responsible for protecting the poor. Since the government must set a minimum wage for justice's sake, perhaps it can set maximums for corporate profits or individual salaries and offer incentives for the rich to give back. Ralph Scheidler, Fort Fairfield, Maine...
...wreckage left by World War II, the Bretton Woods institutions and the Marshall Plan were premised on the idea that economic development was the handmaiden to peace. More recently, charitable organizations (which have been playing a role in development for centuries) responded to humanitarian emergencies in the poor world that aroused public sentiment in the rich one, like the famines in Biafra in the 1960s, and Bangladesh in the 1970s. When Bob Geldof and his friends formed Band Aid/Live Aid in response to the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine, in which a million people died, "Feed the world" became the chorus...
...tended to grow faster than food supply - and predicted global catastrophe without drastic population reductions. In 1981, the economist and Nobel prizewinner Amartya Sen outlined an alternative view, arguing that lack of food was just one cause of famine. Inequality was just as important. In famines, it is the poor that die, not the rich. In practice, good development combines those approaches and more. Raise food production. Reduce population growth. (And do both as equitably as possible.) Give a starving man a fish, sure. But when he's recovered, give him a rod and have a chat about contraception...
...poorest of the poor don't plan for the long term. The problem is that in present circumstances, their plans are little lessons in tragedy. On a reporting trip a few weeks ago to southern Ethiopia, where hunger now threatens millions, photographer Thomas Dworzak and I visited the village of Gode. Some 20 children had died there. We saw goats, cows and chickens roaming. We asked, Why hadn't the villagers slaughtered the animals? Germeda Koro, who had two children being treated for malnutrition, replied: "Look, maybe one or two children get sick. But if you kill your animals...