South America
“Prayer for the unity of nations brings peace and harmony.”
SOUTH AMERICA How can globalization help rather than hinder positive social change, economic development, and the beating back of poverty? Significant departures from the past are needed.
The bottom of the socioeconomic ladder may be just as important as the top, in terms of unleashing the beneficial side of market forces. There is an asset in the most fragile sectors of society: the initiative of the people. Its expression is selfemployment — in today's jargon, microenterprise. But microenterprise has always faced obstacles, among them lack of access to capital.
Microfinance is commercially viable. In Bolivia, the most solvent bank with the highest return on assets is the one solely dedicated to businesses on the unfashionable side of town. The most valuable of its assets is the credibility of its clients — hard working microentrepreneurs that have paid both principal and interest on 99% of their loans. This allows the bank to fund itself, not only from the local but also the international capital markets.
Globalization is a change in the means the world has at its disposal. To what ends it is applied, and whether it is an illustration of our noble instincts — rather than our more selfish and greedy side — is up to us, the people.
Michael Chu. President and CEO of ACCIN International (a private, nonprofit organization that fights poverty through microlending)BRAZIL In the context of globalization, it's helpful to consider this definition of earth “A sphere; a type of eternity and immortality, which are likewise without beginning or end. To material sense, earth is matter; to spiritual sense, it is a compound idea” (Science and Health, page 585). Globalization leads us more and more toward finding an expression of the spiritual idea of the earth.
The effect of globalization is being felt in Brazil through high unemployment and currency fluctuations. Previously, unemployment was virtually unknown to the middle class. So no social nets were in place to protect the unemployed. Brazil's latest currency, the real, is about five years old, and not all adjustments necessary for its stability are in place.
Brazilians, however, have much going for them. They adjust well to adversity. Like other countries, Brazil will become stronger through its response to globalization and take its rightful place among nations as a full-fledged member of the world family.
Katharina Helmick, who graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the University of Munich
“We need greater social justice...”
BOLIVIA Globalization is an economic phenomenon motivated by the need for greater efficiency in the use of capital and technology. In it, we see a coalition of banks and industries. This means greater concentration of income in fewer hands.
For the industrialized countries, globalization can have a beneficial effect. For the underdeveloped and marginal countries, there can be negative effects. This is because the lesser-developed countries often lack goods to sell for hard currency and trade very low in the stock market.
There is a globalization of economies and also a global accumulation of poverty, unemployment, and corruption. Poor people are on the increase; the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.
We need a point of balance based on a better redistribution of wealth. This can be found through an economy of solidarity, where there is greater distribution of wealth. I mean by this that economic development would be more humane.
I don't see anything wrong with the earnings, growth, and progress of big corporations, but they can help more with the redistribution of wealth by encouraging the creation of new enterprises, thus generating a source of employment. They can encourage business activities in low income areas.
By this, I don't mean charity. Charity doesn't equal development, and is not helping to solve problems in the world. We should look for a more humane development. We need greater social justice for everyone. Dr. Roberto Jordan Pando, Bolivian Ambassador to the United Nations
ARGENTINA Creating new markets (like NAFTA, MERCOSUR, ASEAN, the European Union) does away with many restrictions that have prevented the free flow of goods, ideas, and people. This leads to greater individual freedom, enabling people to move across geographic borders in order to get to know neighboring countries and to carry out joint projects. There is progress for everyone involved.
Globalization also means greater cultural integration — the sharing of musical and artistic values among countries — and mutual interest in noble causes.
The economists, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the industrialized countries will have to demand changes leading to a more stable flow of assets and resources around the world. This will prevent crises in local markets.
Big fluctuations in the stock market, flight of capital, and inflation begin when fear of the future creeps in. Everyone looks for safety. A worker wants to have a secure job, a mother wants her children to have a good education, an investor wants to avoid losses. We can overcome fear when we find refuge in God's love. That's the only safe place in adverse circumstances.
Pedro Grieco, former Professor of Public Finance, University of Buenos AiresBRAZIL With globalization, no one can hide behind a screen of frontiers that place people in a retrograde position, swimming against the stream of history. Progress comes from being alert and up-to-date with new trends. During the turmoil that may come with the changes brought about by globalization, nations and individuals can find comfort in God's presence. In the Bible, the Psalmist sang, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (Psalms 139:9, 10).
Brazil is part of an economic union with Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay — countries of the southern cone of South America already experiencing their own common market, called the MERCOSUR. This union represents a miniature globalization.
Forced to swim with the flow of globalization, the mood of the Brazilian public is upbeat. Not that there are no problems. Crime is increasing at about the same rate as in other countries. As elsewhere, it is largely drug traffic related. The smuggling of drugs is global, and hopefully globalization will help repress it. Brazilians, though, have a sense of togetherness, of mutual dependence and respect.
What Eddy wrote about the individual applies also to the nation: “Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also” (Science and Health, page 451).
Paul Richard Klien, Chairman of a Brazilian transportation group, Rio de Janeiro
VENEZUELA Even though the unification of markets is economically beneficial to the countries involved, what's important is that it generates a more stable peace, encourages an intercultural exchange of ideas, and brings freedom. As the ongoing unification of markets and regions is based on spiritual qualities — like love for our neighbors, respect for diversity, honesty in business — it will be cemented permanently.
My company has sent me on missions to five continents, and more than once I came across cultural differences, lack of trust, and resentment toward foreigners. Every time I put aside the sociological presumptions and prayed to understand that there is really only one Mind, only one Father-Mother, the conflicts were resolved.
Prayer for the unity of nations brings harmony and peace to our lives. This leads to universal concord.
Jorge Leuschner, automotive corporation manager, Caracas
South America Most populous countries
• Brazil: Pop.: 169.8 mil.; 8,512,000 km2 ; Industry: textiles, shoes, chemicals
• Columbia: 38.6 mil.; 1,139,000 km2 ; textiles, food production, oil
• Argentina: 36.3 mil.; 2,767,000 km2 ; food production, automobiles, consumer durables
• Peru: 26.1 mil.; 1,285,000 km2 ; mining, oil, fishing
• Venezuela: 22.8 mil.; 912,000 km2 ; oil, mining, construction material
• Chile: 14.8 mil.; 757,000 km2 ; copper, minerals, food production
• Ecuador: 12.3 mil.; 284,000 km2 ; oil, food production, textiles Sources: Der Fischer Weltalmanach ‘97, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag Frankfurt/M./CIA. www.odci.gov/cia/publications/ factbook
