World Rich in Greed and Social Injustice
Published in The Universe
(January 05, 2003)
JUANITO Garcia is the father of a family of five, and pays rent in coconuts to the landlord in Davao Oriental, one of the biggest Coconut farming areas in Philippines. He was ordered off the land with his wife and children into the slums of Davao city with its crime and death squads.
The social unrest and dissatisfaction in the city has everything to do with social injustice, landgrabbing and the concentration of the natural resources in the hands of a political elite and family dynasties. This has led to a greatly unbalanced distribution of wealth.
Juanito, who worked the
coconut groves all his life, just about survives on the rubbish dumps of
Davao city, his hungry children are begging, his daughters lured to
prostitution.
The purpose of government it seems is to control unrest, rule with fear and facilitate the transfer of even more wealth to the rich and keep it there. This is true of most developing countries in Africa and central and South America and a major cause of world poverty.
In the Philippines the concentration of the land and wealth has remained firmly in the greedy grasp of the rich. With that they buy political power and manipulate the laws to protect their interest and those of their foreign business partners. Others use force to maintain their power base.
There would be no economic migrants if there was more globalisation of justice ensuring just trading relations between the rich north and poor south, so that the poor can benefit. Then there would be prosperity for all and no need for the educated poor to migrate. All could be living in dignity. Our tasks as Christians is be agents of change and help make it happen.
