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PLAIN TRUTH December 1972
Orher less forrunare newcomers
fail ro find jobs. Their plighr in che
suburban slums of major Sourh
American ciries is nora pleasanr one.
When rhey lived in rheir villages, or
on rheir farms, they could ar least
planr a garden or raise chickens for
food. Now, in rhe sc¡uarrer camps and
slums, rhere is no space ro grow any–
rhing. There are no saniration, no ser–
vices and no communiry srrucrure in
rhese hasrily construcred shanry
rowns. Cardboard, scrap sheet meral
and case-off lumber are rheir basic
buildi ng marerials.
Somc
80
of rhesc slums "house"
200,000
pcople who sc¡uar illegaily
and uncomforrably around the ciry of
Lima, Peru. This ciry is not ex–
cepcional. Ir is nor even rhe "world's
worsr ciry," a dubious disrincrion
which, sorne say, belongs ro Calcurra.
India.
Paradox of D isp laced People
This picrure is nor a pretry one. Ir
shows a growing social dilemma
r<:aching mammorh proporrions -
secmingly beyond che grasp of gov–
ernmcnrs and social planners ro solve.
As the popularion explodes, people
muse go somewhere. Too many rural
peoplc piling up on rhe land creares
an cconomically absurd popularion
densi ry and rherefore necessitates a
high rare of rural-ro-urban mig ration.
If
unJcrdeveloped nations don'r
stcp up thc exodus of farmers ro rheir
ciries, they will
be
swamped with
under-cmployed farmers. If rhey do
srcp ir up, ciries wiiJ grow ara disas–
rrous rare.
Furure
W
o rld
Ciry
Historian Arnold Toynbee predices
much more urbanizarion in che
fu.
AMTRAK DOESN'T STOP HERE.
Ra il–
raad service to small towns throughout
the American hear tland is dwindling. At
W i lton, North Dakota, August Schacher
alone mans the fre ight depot . At age
65, after nearly half a century of work–
ing on the railroads, he now spends
more time waiting than working. Pas–
senger service was discontinued two
years ago. Only a single f reight train
rumbles in daily.
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