Children are served their school meal at a school in India in this 2017 photograph. (OSV News/Courtesy Mary's Meals)
by Sr. Dorothy Fernandes
Contributor
The glory of God is being fully alive; this has given us the impetus to live life to the fullest. The changing face of the universe has impacted the responses of us humans, maybe for the worst. Though to be honest a few good people do struggle to keep alive some values which are so essential for the coexistence of all living organisms.
There was a time when we experienced interdependency and we happily lived by it. Over the years what has been frightening is the role of power in our lives. Instead of being facilitators we have become owners, holders of power — the remote control lies in the powerful.
Nations of the world have forgotten their responsibility toward the less privileged.
The Global North and Global South are socioeconomic and political classifications, not strict geographic ones. The North includes wealthy, developed nations (U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia), while the South encompasses developing regions (Africa, Latin America and most of Asia). The South holds roughly 85% of the world's population but only accounts for about 40% of the global GDP.
The Global North and the Global South are often defined in terms of their differing levels of wealth, economic development, income inequality and strength of democracy, as well as by their political freedom and economic freedom, as defined by a variety of indices. Countries of the Global North tend to be wealthier, and export technologically advanced manufactured products, among other characteristics.
In contrast, countries of the Global South tend to be relatively poorer, and heavily dependent on their largely agrarian-based economic primary sectors. Some scholars suggest that the inequality gap between the Global North and the Global South has narrowed since globalization. Others contend that the Global South has instead become poorer vis-à-vis the Global North.
Advertisement
According to this data there is an urgent question which we need to ask: Who then is responsible for this lopsided development? Due to longstanding wars with the Middle East, the Global North is drastically cutting funds for the welfare of poorer nations. This is going to affect the Global South in a very serious manner. The poorer nations will be denied welfare services that were being carried out by the nongovernmental sector.
Being in the social sector, I hear many painful stories of retrenchment of staff, as funds are not available. What has shocked me most is the cutting of staff at the U.N. office here in Patna-Bihar. So many of the agreements which have been signed by countries will no longer stand valid. In other words, who will we question? The global world is becoming less accountable. We are losing our ethos as nations who once reached out as a moral responsibility to the less privileged.
What is more frightening is what I hear — people who have worked in this sector in big international agencies for three decades saying what's next. One said: "I can't sleep at night. I have a young family. What's their future? I am in midlife now, I can't all of a sudden change my profession. Where will I get a job? How will I become self-employed?"
This is a nightmare for many of the youth of our country. India being a young nation, unemployment being high, industries being insufficient, basic necessities of life are going beyond the reach of the common person. In this present scenario, I am asking myself, do we have a role to play?
Vulnerability is on the increase, life is becoming fragile. The question before us is how will we differentiate; what will we prioritize and at what cost? These are soul-searching questions each human person has to face every day. When peace of mind is not possible, when one is weighed down with heavy burdens — how does one live? The big question today is, are we moving backward? Has development in the real sense of the word affected us?
The fragility of security seems to have become a privilege of a very few, those in administrative services or political parties. These are the ones who make decisions which will affect the whole of humanity into the future.
I am reminded of the talisman of Mahatma Gandhi:
Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.
