Enough of debate about the virtues of globalization. The answer is in: the utter devastation of rural society in the global south by neoliberal investment policies, and the resulting forcing of a billion people into conditions of unimaginable degradation, is without doubt the greatest crime in human history. No positive benefits could outweigh this. What needs to be debated now is how to ameliorate it.
The number of people living a precarious existence has been increasing in many countries of the world, with hunger all too widespread. There are approximately 6 billion people in the world, with about half living in cities and half in rural areas. Between the poor living in cities and those in rural areas, a vast number of the world’s people live under very harsh conditions. It is estimated that that about half of the world’s population lives on less than two dollars per day, with most of those either chronically malnourished or continually concerned with where their next meal will come from. Many have no access to clean water (1 billion), electricity (2 billion), or sanitation (2.5 billion).
Of the 3 billion inhabitants of cities, a recent United Nations report indicates that close to 1 billion live in slums—that number vastly expanded during the so-called boom years of the 1990s. It is estimated that over the next 50 years the number living in slums will increase by about 300 percent (The Challenge of Slums—Global Report on Human Settlements 2003, UN Human Settlements Program).
The other half of the world’s population—about 3 billion people—live in rural areas. Most of them are producing food for themselves and/or to sell to others. Many rural inhabitants live in difficult conditions, but those with access to land can usually provide food for their families.
The situation is far from static. A continuing mass migration of people from rural regions into the cities of the third world is underway. Some 20 to 30 million people leave their villages each year, swelling the ranks of urban populations. People move to the cities in response to difficult conditions in rural areas (thinking that there are better prospects in the cities) or because they are pushed off their farms when an expanding capitalist farming sector takes over land or mechanizes production.
In the core countries the migration of the peasants and farmers to the cities began as capitalism first developed in the 16th through early 19th centuries—and continued through the 20th century. As the population moved to the cities new job opportunities were being created by industrialization at the same time as increased agricultural mechanization and productivity were decreasing the need for labor to farm the land. There was also another outlet for people pushed off the land in Europe when there were not sufficient jobs in the cities. Millions of people migrated to colonies and former colonies—the United States, Canada, and Australia—where land and other resources appropriated from indigenous peoples provided, for a while, a seemingly endless frontier.
What is occurring today in the third world, beginning in the late 20th century, is something very different. It is the migration of farmers, peasants, and landless rural families to cities that do not have sufficient jobs to absorb the newcomers productively. Although some manage to migrate to the core capitalist countries, this outlet for “excess” population has been effectively closed to the masses of people. The result has been the explosive growth of slums in the third world, accompanied by misery and hungry people without access to land to grow their own food.
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Following the standard prescription—opening up countries of the periphery to the free flow of goods, services, and capital as well as decreasing government support programs that help the living conditions of the poor—can be devastating. There are numerous recent examples of how such policies have hurt the poor. Taking the advice of the World Bank and various aid organizations, the government of Malawi reduced assistance to agriculture and at the same time let its currency float. This led to a devaluation of their currency and a five-fold increase in the cost of imported fertilizer—putting this essential ingredient of agriculture out of the reach of most farmers (New York Times, July 13, 2003). The use of fertilizers is one of the keys to enhanced agricultural production on the ancient and nutrient depleted soils of Africa. Even though aid agencies have helped some farmers obtain modest amounts of fertilizer, the market-oriented “solutions” recommended by experts have led to widespread and more persistent hunger, even when the climate is favorable. In Ghana, the government, “pressured by its Western creditors to keep its fiscal house in order, doesn’t supply fertilizer subsidies, crop-price supports, or any other equivalent of cheap financing...” (Wall Street Journal December 3, 2002). With the relatively high prices of fertilizers, which need to be imported, a lack of subsidies means that farmers use little or no fertilizer, thus food production and opportunities for earning extra income are well below easily attainable levels.
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