PHA-Exchange> Food to make a big dent on a thought

[Claudio]

Human Rights Reader 83

 

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE GROWING 'GAP'

 

1. Respecting and fulfilling human rights (HR) has a cost indeed --maybe even in terms of economic growth foregone. But solidarity, fairness and justice are also values that count --perhaps more than growth-- when wealth is relentlessly concentrating in fewer and fewer hands: Disparities in global income are simply worsening.

 

2. As part of these inequalities, in the 21st century, it is a fact that, in rich countries, it has become cheaper to buy an extra year of life; buying an extra year of life in poor countries has also become somewhat cheaper: But by far and increasingly more unaffordable. 

 

3. The inequalities we refer to arise from the rich being made better-off at a faster pace than the poor. (Unbelievably, many of the rich see this as "not-a-bad-thing" since this windfall bonanza comes really "at no-one's expense." (??)  Worldwide, we are told that the "average-global-citizen" (does such an animal exist?) has become wealthier --but this is of little comfort for the 2 ½-3 billion poor people living in developing countries.

 

4. In 2001, more than half the low income countries (population 800 million) had per capita income growths of less than 2%; nearly one third of them (225 million) had negative growths. This, at a time when OECD countries subsidized their agriculture at a level of U$850 million a day, or U$360 billion in 2003 alone. (This equals six times their overseas development assistance and is costing the world's poor countries about U$24 billion a year in lost export income.not to talk about the expenses of U$200 billion in Iraq).

 

5. Inequalities are of such a magnitude that reallocating a relatively small part of the income of the 10% richest group (e.g., through progressive taxation, property taxes, luxury goods taxation, a Tobin-type tax, land reform) can potentially make a big dent in the income of the poorest 20%.   

If this is not a human (people's) rights issue, I would not know what is..

So, what am I (you) to do as a HR activist?

 

Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City

claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn

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Mostly taken from Finance and Development (the IMF journal) 40:3, Sept 2003.
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