Time Mag. / Jeffrey Sachs: Making Poverty History

[John Gelles]

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Nothing is more important than knowing the goals we are after. And of nearly equal importance is having a popular voice and platform, like Jeffrey Sachs and Time magazine, to speak to a wide audience to get  an agenda before our eyes.

 

I do not think I can persuade Sachs of the case for supplementing money and spending as we know them with supplementary debt-free, tax-free, indexed fiat money and  spending (see  www.tiea.us  for a fuller description). But Sachs can persuade us all that his goals are doable—and his goals are more or less the same as ours.

 

You may note that step IX is the same as the key concept of Associative Economics (AE) which is parent to Talking Economics.

 

Jeffrey Sachs last point, on the fear that voters may not welcome the burden of paying for what the agenda may cost, is the starting point for  www.tiea.us   We, on that site, insist that there is no burden.

We insist that when production is ramped up to meet the needs of the planet, the marginal effect of each next mouth fed and next home built, provided population holds at a sustainable level (and does not imitate nature's animals who breed more descendants than that), is not a burden but a favorable "free" lunch effect. 

 

Yes, some small portion of debt-free money spent into circulation can allow nations to prevent unemployment and destructive futures and stress from burdening the fortunate, moneywise, who worry what if tomorrow I lose "mine" , as no good deed ever goes unpunished.

 

John Gelles

 

Copyrighted paragraphs reprinted here are for educational non profit purposes. They fit the pattern of my thought in part, as expressed in my writings here for a decade. They were offered  to me on the internet ( as a Time magazine subscriber ) and are copied here to others (adding to its value)—it is fair use of the work. To visit Time see www.time.com

 

9 steps to Making Poverty History

The end of Jeffrey D. Sachs article in Time Magazine date 14 March 2005.

 

The costs of action are a tiny fraction of the costs of inaction. And yet we must carry out these tasks in a context of global inertia, proclivities to war and prejudice, and understandable skepticism around the world that this time can be different from the past. Here are nine steps to the goal:

I  Commit to the task.
Oxfam and many other leaders in civil society have embraced the goal of Making Poverty History. The world as a whole needs now to embrace the goal.

II  Adopt a plan of action.
The U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals, approved by all of the world's governments at the start of the millennium, are the down payment on ending poverty. The MDGS set out specific targets for cutting poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation by 2015 and thereby laid the foundation for eliminating extreme poverty by 2025. The rich and poor countries have solemnly agreed to work toward fulfilling the MDGS. The key is to follow through.

III  Raise the voice of the poor.
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. did not wait for the rich and powerful to come to their rescue. They asserted their call to justice and made their stand in the face of official arrogance and neglect. It is time for the democracies in the poor world—Brazil, India, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and dozens of others—to join together to issue the call to action.

IV  Redeem the U.S. role in the world.
The richest and most powerful country, long the leader and inspiration in democratic ideals, is barely participating in global efforts to end poverty and protect the environment, thus undermining its own security. It's time to honor the commitment to give 0.7% of our national income to these crucial goals.

V  Rescue the IMF and World Bank.
They have the experience and technical sophistication to play an important role. They have the internal motivation of a highly professional staff. Yet they have been used like debt-collection agencies for the big creditor countries. It's time to restore their role in helping all 182 of their member countries, not just the rich ones, in the pursuit of enlightened globalization.

VI  Strengthen the U.N.
It is no use blaming the U.N. for the missteps of recent years. Why are U.N. agencies less operational than they should be? Not because of "U.N. bureaucracy," though that exists, but because the powerful countries fear ceding more authority. Yet U.N. specialized agencies have a core role to play in the ending of poverty. It is time to empower the likes of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (who), the Food and Agricultural Organization (fao), and many others to do the job—on the ground, country by country.

VII  Harness global science.
New technology has led directly to improved standards of living, yet science tends to follow market forces as well as to lead them. It is not surprising that the rich get richer in a continuing cycle of growth while the poorest are often left behind. A special effort should be made by the powerhouses of world science to address the unmet challenges of the poor.

VIII  Promote sustainable development.
Ending extreme poverty can relieve many of the pressures on the environment. When impoverished households are more productive on their farms, for example, they face less pressure to cut down neighboring forests in search of new farmland. Still, even as extreme poverty ends, we must not fuel prosperity with a lack of concern for industrial pollution and the unchecked burning of fossil fuels.

IX  Make a personal commitment.
It all comes back to us. Individuals, working in unison, form and shape societies.

The final myth I will debunk here is that politicians are punished by their constituents for supporting actions to help the poor. There is plenty of experience to show that the broad public will accept such measures, especially if they see that the rich within their own societies are asked to meet their fair share of the burden. Great social forces are the mere accumulation of individual actions. Let the future say of our generation that we sent forth mighty currents of hope, and that we worked together to heal the world.

Copyright (copyright)2005 Jeffrey Sachs. Adapted from The End of Poverty, to be published this month in the U.S. by Penguin

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