Basic HTML Version
==~=-==============-=====~=~llatidi'I~N~
3
A TALE
OF TWO GERMANIES
Our Bonn correspondents compare conditions
in East and West Germany a generation alter
their division.
5
A BUCHWALDIAN BICENTENNIAL
lf the Declaration of lndependence were tele–
visad. it would first need lo be censored.
reports Art Buchwald.
6
THE NEW "CIVIL WAR"
As the poor nations arlse (see cover). a
north-vs.-south "war between the states'' seems
inevitable.
THE MOST DANGEROUS
CHILDHOOD DISEASE
8
Child abuse is rampant. The only answer is to
change the parent. Parents Anonymous is
fu lfilling that need.
THE HIGH PRICE OF PEACE
11
"Lastíng peace," write the experts, "ís probably
unattainable." Furthermore, il would be more
expensive than war!
12
THE BRAIN
AND THE COMPUTER
The human mind created the computar. How
then could "random chance" create a lar
superior computar - your mind?
A TIME OF
13
TRANSITION IN THAILAND
Stanley R. Rader reports on his visit wlth the
prime minlster
ot
Thalland in Bangkok last
month.
14
A REVOLUTION OF THE SPIRIT
" The United States needs a new revolution
not with guns, but
ot
the human spirit," writes
Garner Ted Armstrong.
2
-1
THI PDDR NATIDNB
~
STAND UP
by
Jet! Calkins
The rising chorus of demands on the
part of the world's poorest nations may
soon become the major diptomatic prob..
lem confrontlng the industrializad natlons
o! the West and Japan.
A recent series of international confer·
ences has allowed the numerous have–
not nations to renew their can for a "new
world economic order," whereby much of
the wealth of the Industrial powers would
be transferred to the "developing na·
tlons"
ot
Asla, ¡>.trica, and Latln Amerlca.
Meelings of the lnternational Monetary
Fund, !he Wortd Bank, a group
ot
82
"non·aUgned" nations, and the
United
Nations Speclal Assembly have al! pro–
vide<! convenlent torums
tor
the Thlrd
World to air its belief that Industrial na–
tlons sllould reduce their standard of liv–
Ing
so
lhe poor can ralse lhelrs.
To paraphrase the prophet Joel, the
weak are now saying, " 1am strong" (Joel
3: 10).
Through colonialism. the rfch nalíons.
11
is charged, rvlhlessly exptoiled the
poor ones.
Upon this belief and upon the asser–
tion thal !he rich nations have broughl
raw materials from the poor at low pñces
and sold them back manufacturad goods
at high prices rests the third world's case.
But the history of colonlalism ls by no
means undisputed. European author Erik
von Kuehnelt·Leddihn points out that,
conlrary to popular belief, European col–
onias were rarely paylng. propositlons.
For the mosl part, European countrles
poured more money into their colonias
than lhey got out of them. Furthermore,
noncolonlzad areas such
as
Nepal, Bhu–
tan. Afghanlstan, or Ethiopia haven'l
done any better economically than thelr
cofonlzed brethren.
Needed: Free Trade
The other hall ollhe Thlrd Wortd argu–
menf, tMt the rich have bought low and
sold high, ls much less disputad. To this
day there remain any number of trade
barriers to Third World goods whlch the
rich countries have erected to protect
their own domestic industries. The United
States. for example. has a number of re–
strlctions on food lmports from Latin
America. The ellminallon of lrade barrlers
against Third World goods, one of lhe
key demands made al varlous conler–
ences. carries much promise of helping
the poor countries to earn the foreign
exchange they need to bolster their econ·
omies.
lronically, many developing natlons
now tind themselves in despel'ate eco–
nomic stralts preclsefy because or !he
violation of free trade. The tremendous
success of !he OPEC oll cartel in fixing
the price of oll has hurt the non-oll pro–
ducing poor nations more than anyone
efse.
U.S.
Treasury figures show lhat
higher oil príces cosl poor nations
$11.5
billlon tasi year, more than the total
amounl
ot
aid they have recelvad thus far
In
1975.
To make matlers worse. the hlgher oil
prlces paid by the rlch natlons were partly
borne by the poor In the form ol higller
prlces in the goods they importad trom
therich.
Out of the Soup Kltchen
Among lhe specific demands ol the
Third World are:
- Al leas! one percent of !he GNP of
ñch nations to go for foreign aid .
- More power to exproprlate (without
paylng market prices for compensatlon)
multlnational corporations.
-
The suspenslon
or
cancellation
of
lhe
debl Third World nalions owe devel–
oped natlons.
The
Wa/1
Slreet
Journal
notes that such
proposals amount to seHing up an lnter–
national welfare system -
a
"soup–
kltchen" approach lo helping poor na–
tlons.
In such a system, handouts take !he
fotm
ol
deveJopment grants, low interest
loans, fiat creation of internaUonal
ex–
changa, as well as direcl aid. What the
Third World really needs. the
Journal
points out.
ls also
what
the
rich nations
need: free frade. job opportunilies. capi-
tal
formation, and noninflationary growth.
The economk: success of such
Third
World states as Talwan, Singapore, and
South Korea demonstrales whal can be
done in such favotab1e clrcumstances.
Poverty is nol forever, necessarlly. These
consplcuous Third World economic suc·
cesses owe their relative prosperlty
In
large part to providing a hospilabte cli–
male for forelgn capital.
The free flow of foreign investment. in–
creased trade among nations. and the
elimlnation of trade barriers provide the
foundation upon which the poo.r nalions
coutd lift themselves out of poverty.
Yetthe very real danger exlsls that !he
world wiff fragment lnto mutually hostile
blocs of have and have-not nations. In
such circumstances. leaders could de.
scend into lnternational bickerlng and
lose sighl of lhe facl that there are ways
ot
dealing wllh lnternational poverly
whlch would benefit al! nations. o
WEEK ENDINO OCTOBER 18, 197S