Poverty and the New World Order

Hina 11(MISS Einstein) · #1 Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Poverty and the New World Order

In present era, 13% of the world population could be making adequate incomes, while 37% live in extreme poverty with incomes below 1,000 US dollars per year.
Poverty has been defined as:
"the shortage of essential items such as food, water, clothing and shelter".
Many well fed and bred social workers and benefactors, including non-profit organizations from their comfortable position believe that it is much better to teach poor people how to work, so they can undertake some useful activity, than to supply them with charity. Maybe so.

HELP IS ON THE WAY:
United Nations has made their first point in their Millennium Development agenda to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. For this they are now measuring Poverty, trying to manage it and coordinating efforts to reduce it. We hope for their success. Their task in phenomenal for 37% of the world population about 2,495 million live with less than 1000 dollars/year are in extremely poor condition. Can the reader imagine how one person can live with less than 1,000 dollars a year?

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, living in Bangladesh has already begin to change the world. Dr. Yunus has created the concept of Micro Financing which is now applied throughout the world. By providing common poor people very small short term loans, allows them to create their own jobs and establish their small trade or industry that will generate their livelihood. This concept is now adopted by many more American and European organizations following Dr. Yunus lead.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is right when he states that poverty is caused by the system, and not by the people. Poverty is not only the shortages of vital inputs for life, but the absence of facilities to produce goods and services that can render an income. This is the reason why Dr Yunus provides the financial support of micro financing, to empower people via "capital goods" to produce food, a product or a service.

SYSTEM FAILURE:
Truly, there must be something wrong with a system that generates so much poverty.

Is UN and all experts missing the point.

Will UN hunger relief efforts reduce poverty? The question we really need to address is:
Is the system implemented by mankind, adequate?

Our current system provides the following results:

POOR CLASS(81% of the world population, or 5,424 million in 130 countries)

* 37% in extremely poor condition (less than 1,000 dollars)
* 34% very poor live with incomes between 1,000 to 3,000 dollars a year
* 10% poor live with incomes between 3,000 to 5,000 dollars

MIDDLE CLASS (6% of the world population or 385 million in 85 countries)

* 3% live between 5,000 to 10,000 a year
* 3% live between 10,000 to 20,000 a year

HIGH CLASS (13% of the world population or 880 million in 29 countries)

* 8% live between 20,000 to 40,000 a year
* 5% live between 40,000 to 65,000 a year

Under this reality, will micro financing be enough to help the 81% of the population improve their incomes?
It may mitigate at the micro level, but there has to be a missing component in this puzzle of Poverty, because Microfinancing and Charity programs are not enough. Furthermore they do not attack the causes for the system failure to produce a better world for mankind.

WHAT IS THE SYSTEM?
As we know, any production system that generates income and wealth requires capital and power. Some economist believe that with capital you buy power, therefore only capital is needed. The Microfinancing model provides the capital but not the power. The Power can be purchased, economist argue, rightly so, in USA, Europe and some other countries in the world it can be purchased. But for the 130 countries in the poverty state, power does not exists or is insufficient for their people. Hence, without power, no goods or only inferior goods are produced. Hence poverty develops and may continue to increase with time and as population increases.

Analyzing the world Power or Energy Models, we have established and accepted the building of central plants to obtain and generate electricity. These Power Plants, use a multitude of fuels (Fossil, Nuclear, and some less encroaching for the planet) and cost between 500 million USD to 5 billion to erect, depending on the type of fuel used and the capacity installed. Furthermore, these require huge investments to run transmission cables through 3% of the land to transport the electricity to its users. This situation makes capital and power, two distinct factors of production. Power is inaccessible for 130 countries in the world, and very dear to another 85 countries. Only top 29 countries have sufficient power, but still, will continue to grow their installed capacities.

POWER MODEL CAUSES POVERTY AND INEQUALITY:
The central Power model does not work for 81% of the world Population. But we have no way of changing it, because the low cost "Home Power Generator" (HPG) has not been developed.

In fact, the "central power generation model" and the use of "Fossil and nuclear fuels" are the evils within the system, that have distorted the way we live and behave, the way governments operate and behave, and have created a great infrastructure in Power Energy Companies, government regulatory agencies, International agencies on Power, fuels and whatever you can think of. Most of these institutions will fight very bitterly against changing the system and the fuels. The "status quo" is their livelihood, and since they are in the top positions their opinions count more that 5,424 million poor people who have no opinion.

All these decision makers have participated in maintaining a system in which consumers transfer a small fraction of their income to them, on a continuous basis and during the consumer's lifetime, in exchange for stable and continuous electrical supply. Naturally they will provide with cheap electricity, as long as consumers and investors allow them to deplete the world's natural resources, contaminate, influence governments to arm and protect their source of supply and transport routes. Payment for electricity has also caused possible distortions in human behavior, and human conduct, as oppose to not paying for electricity.

Probably, the central producing energy system does not work for 80% of the Americans and Europeans, or people that live in the 29 better eceonomies. These people that live in these higher income countries are in constant debt, and are committed to barely living. But they have been led to believe that the central energy production and distribution system, represented by their Utility companies, is the only way for them to have electricity. These utlity companies are a monopoly and the only way people have to power up their current equipment and amenities, and power tools that may sustain their income.

NEW POWER SYSTEM:
A new energy model is required to service small independent users anywhere there is sun. The new energy model is the Home Power Generator (HPG) harnessing Solar Energy. This equipment, currently exists in components and concept form, but has not been fully integrated. Its four components are a solar heat collector, a stirling engine, a power generator capable of generating between 2.5 to 3.0 KWh, and a battery bank to store the generated electricity and provide it on demand 24/7. This equipment can also have a gas heater to power up the stirling engine when sun is not available. An equipment of this nature should cost less than 10,000 US dollars and its technology is as simple as fabricating an Air Conditioning unit. Much less than using photovoltaic panels.

The HPG equipment is a proponent of the distributed Power generation model, capable of changing the world. It does not require huge initial investments in a plant and cables for electrical transmission. It is clean energy, with no recurring fuel cost when totally on solar energy.
Can you imagine non-profits donating this equipment to communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America?.
Can you image what people in poor countries could do if they had power?
First of all they would become less poor and require less assistance. Second, there could be less terrorism without the need of wars.

The HPG equipment is not a rocket science. Each one of the components exist. The world has been making power generators since the dynamo was invented, and suppliers are ready to produce upon a given specifications. The Stirling engine is an 1816 invention, has been used in a limited way, mainly by the US government, and now is being used by Infinia Corporation for the California Solar Plant. . But, conveniently for a few citizens of the world, the components have never been integrated into a solar home appliance. Energy companies chat, advertise and maybe invest slightly in solar or wind. But knowingly this represents less than 1% of the bulk of their power generation. Power companies need to show their expertise and commitment for the benefit of government officials that support them with permits, licenses, defense of their interests abroad, and to demonstrate to the public and potential energy entrant competitors, that the energy business in under control.

People in general will be fed with arguments that external factors attributed to poor people's particular circumstances is what contributes to their poverty. External factors can range from the environment, the lack of natural resources, laziness, country leaders, and government policies to name a few. However, it has been Energy that has been the key for developing the USA and the top 28 countries. Its is precisely the lack of energy that has grown poverty in the 130 countries.

All institutions, entrepreneurs, developers have been encouraged to support the creation of the HPG appliances, either by developing their own equipment, or by supporting those who will develop the equipment.

Humayun Khan · #2 Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Quite Interesting n Useful!