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made the once proud new currency a joke. (The
money to huy a refrigerator probably would weigh
more than the appliance itself.)
I n a desperate attempt to stave off disaster, the
government is making yet another attempt to
"reorganize society." Tl}e long-suffering people accept
the new order-knowing that it probably won't work
either.
lt
may seem right for a whi le- but then, glib
politicians always make it
seem
right. In the end, it
always means more misery.
The pace of life in the Third World is often measured
by
the calendar rather tban
by
the clock.
After a few years of living like this, a people's
spirit breaks, and they begin not to care anymore.
They watch listlessly as their homeland crumbles
around them. The roads disintegrate, the only bridge
over the r iver collapses, the post office roof caves
in- but nobody does anything. Even the proud
independence monument molders in its decrepit
park, and the capital city s lowly returns to being a
village.
Sorne years ago, in a nation not unlike this one, 1
met a young student caught up in a revolutionary
movcment. He was angry, frank and candid. "Look
at this mess," he said, driving through the ruins of
the capital's main thoroughfare. "My nation has
gone the wrong way," he went on passionately.
"When we became independent, our leaders wanted
no more of European ways. We were full of
confidence. We were sure we knew the way to go.
But we were stupid to try to be so
indcpendent- now we are worse off than ever. We
need help- education, technology. We will never
make it by ourselves."
"So why does your government refuse all offers of
aid from outside?" 1 asked . His country had
doggedly pursued a path of nonalignment, and
totally rejected any aid that would carry the risk of
being drawn into the orbit of a major power.
"Oh yes, all sorts of people want to help us," he
20
said . "The communist countries offer their help. We
know what that means. We' ll end up indebted and
obl igated to them, and that will be the end of our
way of life. There are too many st rings attached to
their aid ... Jet them keep thei r tractors and military
advisers."
" But it's the same with the Western powers," he
continued. "Once we let them in, it's the end of
independence. Look at ... " He reeled off severa! of
the more prosperous Third World nations. "They are
colonies again!" He was right- they are, in effect,
cultural colonies of the West. "We want what you
have, but we don't want the way of li fe that goes
with it.
If
we let you help us, we'll just be another
market to be developed."
"That's why I am really a very harmless
revolu tionary," he added confidentially. "What's the
point of trying to overthrow the government when
you know you couldn't do any better? Why isn't
there anyone who can help us without hurting us?"
he almost cried with frustration .
This young man was honest enough to recognize
his country's dismal lack of success, yet he was also
realistic enough to admit that he didn't know what
todo about it. He helped me to understand how
cducated people in the Third World think.
lt
is
something that many of us in the affiuent First
World overlook.
T
n the "developed" world, we tend to cvaluate the
success or failure of a way of life by measuring
material prosper ity. We grade the nations of the
world in terms of their per capita income, or their
gross national product. We classify societies as being
"have" or "have not," after we have carefully
calculated the ratio of automobiles or television sets
to the population.
Now, if these are indeed true values-or to put it
another way- if man does indeed live by bread
a lone, then the Western, industrial,
consumer-oriented way of life is by far the most
successful and other people would do well to follow
it.
After all, the First World- and to a large extent
this goes for the European communist countries as
well- has aJI but abolished famine and plague and
the grinding, abject, hopeless poverty that one sees
throughou t much of Africa, and in certain areas of
Asia and South America. The First World has
nearly 100 percent literacy, low infant mortality, and
the highest standard of living that the world has ever
seen. Our societies aren't perfect. But compared to
the squalor of much of the Third World , surely all
can see that this must be the way to go--can't they?
Not necessarily.
l t would be good for the so-called advanced
nations to take a look at themselves- through the
quiet, thoughtful eyes of educated pe. ?le who live in
less prosperous, but less selfishly oriented societies.
People like this do not measure success solely in
terms of material gain. They place a hígher value on
vcry real but intangible things, sucb as tradition,
religion and family Jife. They value personal
The
PLAIN TRUTH