Introduction
1. According to James Newton Poling, author of Render unto God: Economic Vulnerability, Family Violence, and Pastoral Theology, approximately 81% of the global economy is controlled by just 21% of the world’s population, today what we call the “first world” (91). Upon hearing this statistic I could not help but ask myself, “why is it that the so called “first world” controls such a large chunk of the global economy, when it accounts for such a little slice of the global population?” The answer is simple: Because the true economic power of the “third world” has yet to be unleashed.
2. What many people do not realize is that hidden and restrained within these impoverished third world countries is vast economic activity operating in informal ways, what we call extralegal economies. Most people living in poverty do not own land, invest capital, or work at a job for wages. Thus their economic activity is not measured as part of the Gross National Product (Poling, 91). The people of these impoverished nations have been locked out of the global economy and forced to operate outside the rule of law. As followers of Christ, members of the Bluffton University community, rooted in the peace church tradition, and as responsible global citizens, we must find a way to unlock the economic power of the third world. To fail would have the potential to bring about cycles of violence on a major scale as the third world lashes out. Thanks to extensive research on the topic and my pursuits in the study of economics and capitalism, via my business major, I stand here before you today to offer a solution.
3. In order to raise the third world from the depths of poverty and prevent violence on a global scale the economic power of the third world must be unlocked by means of access to formal property systems and property rights.
4. Preview of Main Points
a. First, I will more fully detail the threat of violence.
b. Then, I will identify the causes of economic lockout.
c. Finally, I will offer my solution on how to best solve economic lockout in the third world by granting access to formal property systems and property rights.
Body
1. Due to the economic lockout of the third world, poverty runs rampant among the majority of third world populations, while a small minority controls all the wealth, thanks to a system that favors the rich. This sets the stage for potentially a very violent outcome facing not just the people of the third world, but all peoples.
a. If history has taught us anything it is that violence and conflict, especially in the form of violent revolution, usually is all about money and is usually between the “Have’s” and “Have Not’s” of a society. Even If we look to current events, we can witness firsthand the threat of violence in countries like Egypt and Libya, whose people have had enough and resorted to violence to end their sufferings at the hands of poverty.
b. Violence, among the impoverished, is often seen as the only way out of an altogether hopeless lifestyle. When all else fails to raise your standard of living, violence seems like the logical solution. In the end, acting out in violence just leads to more suffering as conflicts escalate and threaten the security of everyone on a global scale. A peaceful solution must and can be found to prevent these episodes of violence before they ever happen, but first we must identify the cause of so much suffering.
2. So why is it that this problem and threat of violence exists in the third world; what causes economic lockout? The cause, I argue, is that current third world government policies deny the vast majority of their people access to formal property systems and access to property rights.
a. Hernando De Soto advocates in his book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, that, “Nearly every developing and former communist nation has a formal property system. The problem is that most citizens cannot gain access to it (153)”. Imagine a country where identifying who owns what, verifying an address, making someone pay off their debts, conveniently turning resources into capital, and easily comparing assets is virtually impossible. Better yet, imagine a country where the rules that govern property vary from neighborhood to neighborhood or even from street to street (The Mystery 15). What you have just imagined is reality for 80 percent of the population in third world countries.
b. De Soto goes on to reveal that this 80 percent of the population is not as horribly impoverished as westerners might think. In spite of their poverty, those who live in the third world possess far more than most people assume. De Soto offers the example of Cairo, Egypt. If you were staying at the Nile Hilton, in Cairo, and you walked out the front door into the streets of Cairo, you would not be leaving behind the world of technology, such as fax machines or refrigerators. In Cairo these things are accessible. What you are really abandoning when you leave the hotel and enter the streets of Cairo is the world of legally enforceable transactions on property rights. Even in Cairo, where some might strike you as quite rich, their assets are as good as dead; dead capital that cannot be used to its fullest potential (The Mystery 15-16).
3. What solution do I offer to solve economic lockout and prevent episodes of violence?
a. In The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World, De Soto explains that, “the economic importance of property rights is not that they provide assets which benefit their holder exclusively, but that they give their owners sufficient incentive to add value to their resources by investing, innovating, or pooling (their assets) productively for the prosperity and progress of the entire community (178)”. Therefore, in order to bring the people up out of the extralegal economy, unlock the economic power of the third world, and prevent episodes of violence the people must have access to the formal property systems and property rights. The only way to do that effectively is through law. Hence, this is principally a legal challenge and implementing such a major legal change to solve economic lockout is a political responsibility as well as capability of the governments of the third world.
Conclusion
1. To summarize,
a. Due to the economic lockout of the third world a great divide exist between the very rich and very poor of third world societies, which if history and current events have taught us anything carries a very real threat of violence.
b. Economic lockout in the third world is caused by the inaccessibility to the formal property systems and property rights already established in the countries.
c. And finally, I offer the solution that the only way to unlock the economic power of the third world, end poverty, and prevent episodes of violence is for the domestic governments of the third world to create laws granting the people access to the formal property systems and access to property rights.
2. It is vital that the economic power of the third world be unleashed by means of access to formal property systems and property rights, subsequently ending the existence of poverty in the third world and preventing violence on a global scale.
3. In Conclusion, how can we as followers of Christ, members of the Bluffton University community, rooted in the peace church tradition, and as responsible global citizens do our part to solve the problem of economic lockout and help prevent episodes violence? According to Carl Kreider, in his book The Rich and the Poor: A Christian Perspective on Global Economics, typical charitable acts towards the impoverished such as money, food, and medicinal donations are important acts and characterize a true follower of Christ, but these acts only meet the crisis in a short-range capacity (139). If we are to truly alleviate poverty and prevent episodes of violence in the third world once and for all we must aid our brothers and sisters in Christ by speaking up when they cannot, much like I am doing today. We must educate our peers and those around us of these injustices. We must work to grant the people of the third world access to the formal property systems and property rights already in place, yet difficult to access, within their countries. To do this is our responsibility.
An old adage goes, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Give a man a fishing pole, he eats for life.” We must follow this wisdom and give the people of the third world the tools to unlock their economic power and raise themselves up, out of the depths of poverty, erasing thoughts of violent behavior and securing peace in God’s universal kingdom.
Thank You.
De Soto, Hernando. The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. New York: Basic, 2000. Print.
De Soto, Hernando. The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Print.
Kreider, Carl. The Rich and the Poor: A Christian Perspective on Global Economics Typical. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1987. Print.
Poling, James Newton., Brenda Consuelo. Ruiz, and Linda Crockett. Render Unto God: Economic Vulnerability, Family Violence, and Pastoral Theology. St. Louis, Mo: Chalice, 2002. Print.
