GLOBAL
DICHOTOMY
OF WEALTH
There is a global dichotomy in
material possessions. The two extremes are opulence and pauperism. And
everywhere in the world the two groups are geographically polarised: the
streets of the haves and the have-nots. Never mind the middle class who are
neither here nor there; they are also hand-to-mouth survivors! Incidentally,
there is also a climatic dichotomy in global economic fortunes. Almost all poor
and developing countries are situated in the tropical or subtropical zones
while the most economically successful are in the temperate zone. This is more
than a coincidence.
What might be the cause or causes?
That is, how do we explain such affluence in the North and the very opposite of
it in the South. The first observation is that the tropical environment is
generally harsh, with extremes of heat and humidity which contribute to the
degradation of the soil and other natural capital, including rivers and
forests, and the poor health status of man and animals mostly pinned to malaria
and other decimating parasites that are more abundant in the tropics.
The diminished level of productivity
is not arguable, adding the inefficiencies of poorer technology. Another factor
is that Western nations had a very slow rise in population growth, during their
early and middle years of development, averaging 2% or less, but tropical
countries have constantly dragged along with them the liability of excessive
population with high fertility rate. The countries with the fastest growing
population are all in the tropics: India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria,
Brazil, Kenya, Malawi, Philippines, Bangladesh and Guatemala. The implication
is atomization of resources per person.
Developing countries have also
witnessed a rise in brain drain, the emigration of highly educated and skilled
professionals and technicians to the developed world. These are the very people
they could least afford to lose. Between 1985 and 1990, Africa lost nearly one-third
of its skilled workers, with up to 60,000 middle and high-level managers
migrating to Europe and North America. Sudan lost 17% of its doctors and
dentists, 20% of its university teachers, 30% of its engineers, and 45% of its
surveyors. The Philippines lost 12% of its professional workers to the United
States, and 60% of Ghanaian doctors went abroad. So the Northern hemisphere
gets the best brains and hands and the South takes the remnant.
With two or three centuries' head
start in science and technology, culminating in the Industrial Revolution of
the 1800s, and with already stable
democracies, the Western nations achieved and maintained wide gaps in
economic and development fortunes. Also, with superior military and political
systems, they colonized vast territories of the Third World (Africa, Asia, and
Latin America), leaving the latter, even in post-colonial sovereignty, with
economies and governance systems dependent on the former. 'Development' to
those in the Third World simply means to be like the West. Research and
development (R&D) activities backed by scientific and technological
knowledge are concentrated in the developed countries and they have the surplus
wealth to undertake monumental researches and accumulate knowledge further. So,
historically, the rich and poor nations have remained dichotomized and the gaps
intractable.
Then international trade! The
equation of producing versus consuming countries remains unbalanced. Capital
goods, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, and now even raw food all flow
from North to South. The raw materials taken from developing countries are
turned into manufactured goods and re-exported. Therefore, terms of trade
remain in favour of the temperate countries. Only China and a few others in
Asia are closing the gap.
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