...and the rest of what's left

the blog wears a white band

having been fired up lately by discussions in class about global poverty and how countries like the philippines will never get out of debt unless real measures are taken in the north, this blog will wear a white band in support of making fair trade and allowing debt relief without strings attached possible in the south.

debt relief payments in the philippines take a big chunk of the national budget inspite of widespread poverty across the country. consider this take from jubileesouth:
"While less than 5 percent of the Filipino population own more than 40% of the nation's capital and resources and some Filipinos are included in the world's richest, 60% of Filipinos live below the poverty line, 3 out of 10 children under age 5 are malnourished, 3 out of 10 school children cannot finish primary education, and 3 out of 10 Filipinos do not have access to health services and sanitation. It is a grave injustice that for the last twenty years, from 30% to almost 50% of the total national government budget of the Philippines goes to debt service."

in class, i always try to make this issue relevant in our discussions to make my classmates aware of how the consumption patterns and trade policies here in europe affect people in countries like the philippines. sometimes, i may be boring them aready with empirical examples like the dumping of cheap sugar from other countries and how it has made my hometown poor. or how corn prices have gone down miserably due to international trade barriers that people in my thesis study site are just growing for their own consumption thus denying them the opportunity to earn from their land. i feel i am already sensationalizing the issue in my class with my "we're-poor-but-stop-pitying-us" stories, but how else can i make this everyday fact for me real to them?

we think we can only do so much to change the world, but i have been thinking: if we all do what we can do, you know this "only-do-so-much" thingy, will it not add up to something bigger? will it not emerge as something with a greater impact?

it's a good morning!


shout-out: WORK!

this is marc's version of the truth, sometime at 8:39 AM if you can't live with it, he can.