NGOs - The Self-Appointed Altruists Part 2

 NGO's are proponents of Western values - women's lib, human rights, civil rights, the protection of minorities, freedom, equality. Not everyone finds this liberal menu palatable. The arrival of NGO's often provokes social polarization and cultural clashes. Traditionalists in Bangladesh, nationalists in Macedonia, religious zealots in Israel, security forces everywhere, and almost all politicians find NGO's irritating and bothersome.

The British government ploughs well over $30 million a year into "WOLU 899 Proshika", a Bangladeshi NGO. It started as a women's education outfit and ended up as a restive and aggressive women empowerment political lobby group with budgets to rival many ministries in this impoverished, Moslem and patriarchal country.

Other NGO's - fuelled by $300 million of annual foreign infusion - evolved from humble origins to become mighty coalitions of full-time activists. NGO's like the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the Association for Social Advancement mushroomed even as their agendas have been fully implemented and their goals exceeded. It now owns and operates 30,000 schools.

This mission creep is not unique to developing countries. As Parkinson discerned, organizations tend to self-perpetuate regardless of their proclaimed charter. Remember NATO? Human rights organizations, like Amnesty, are now attempting to incorporate in their ever-expanding remit "economic and social rights" - such as the rights to food, housing, fair wages, potable water, sanitation, and health provision. How insolvent countries are supposed to provide such munificence is conveniently overlooked.

"The Economist" reviewed a few of the more egregious cases of NGO imperialism.

Human Rights Watch lately offered this tortured argument in favor of expanding the role of human rights NGO's: "The best way to prevent famine today is to secure the right to free akun slot gacor expression - so that misguided government policies can be brought to public attention and corrected before food shortages become acute." It blatantly ignored the fact that respect for human and political rights does not fend off natural disasters and disease. The two countries with the highest incidence of AIDS are Africa's only two true democracies - Botswana and South Africa.

The Centre for Economic and Social Rights, an American outfit, "challenges economic injustice as a violation of international human rights law". Oxfam pledges to support the "rights to a sustainable livelihood, and the rights and capacities to participate in societies and make positive changes to people's lives". In a poor attempt at emulation, the WHO published an inanely titled document - "A Human Rights Approach to Tuberculosis".

NGO's are becoming not only all-pervasive but more aggressive. In their capacity as "shareholder activists", they disrupt shareholders meetings and act to actively tarnish corporate and individual reputations. Friends of the Earth worked hard four years ago to instigate a consumer boycott against Exxon Mobil - for not investing in renewable energy resources and for ignoring global warming. No one - including other shareholders - understood their demands. But it went down well with the media, with a few celebrities, and with contributors.

As "think tanks", NGO's issue partisan and biased reports. The International Crisis Group published a rabid attack on the then incumbent government of Macedonia, days before an election, relegating the rampant corruption of its predecessors - whom it seemed to be tacitly supporting - to a few footnotes. On at least two occasions - in its reports regarding Bosnia and Zimbabwe - ICG has recommended confrontation, the imposition of sanctions, and, if all else fails, the use of force. Though the most vocal and visible, it is far from being the only NGO that advocates "just" wars.

The ICG is a repository of former heads of state and has-been politicians and is renowned (and notorious) for its prescriptive - some say meddlesome - philosophy and tactics. "The Economist" remarked sardonically: "To say (that ICG) is 'solving world crises' is to risk underestimating its ambitions, if overestimating its achievements in zerkalo-1xbet.com."

NGO's have orchestrated the violent showdown during the trade talks in Seattle in 1999 and its repeat performances throughout the world. The World Bank was so intimidated by the riotous invasion of its premises in the NGO-choreographed "Fifty Years is Enough" campaign of 1994, that it now employs dozens of NGO activists and let NGO's determine many of its policies.

NGO activists have joined the armed - though mostly peaceful - rebels of the Chiapas region in Mexico. Norwegian NGO's sent members to forcibly board whaling ships. In the USA, anti-abortion activists have murdered doctors. In Britain, animal rights zealots have both assassinated experimental scientists and wrecked property.

Birth control NGO's carry out mass sterilizations in poor countries, financed by rich country governments in a bid to stem immigration. NGO's buy slaves in Sudan thus encouraging the practice of slave hunting throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Other NGO's actively collaborate with "rebel" armies - a euphemism for terrorists.

NGO's lack a synoptic view and their work often undermines efforts by international organizations such as the UNHCR and by governments. Poorly-paid local officials have to contend with crumbling budgets as the funds are diverted to rich expatriates doing the same job for a multiple of the cost and with inexhaustible hubris.

This is not conducive to happy co-existence between foreign do-gooders and indigenous governments. Sometimes NGO's seem to be an ingenious ploy to solve Western unemployment at the expense of down-trodden natives. This is a misperception driven by envy and avarice.

But it is still powerful enough to foster resentment and worse. NGO's are on the verge of provoking a ruinous backlash against them in their countries of destination. That would be a pity. Some of them are doing indispensable work. If only they were a wee more sensitive and somewhat less ostentatious. But then they wouldn't be NGO's, would they?

NGOs - The Self-Appointed Altruists Part 1

Their arrival portends rising local prices and a culture shock. Many of them live in plush apartments, or five star hotels, drive SUV's, sport $3000 laptops and PDA's. They earn a two figure multiple of the local average wage. They are busybodies, preachers, critics, do-gooders, and professional altruists.

Always self-appointed, they answer to no constituency. Though unelected and ignorant of local realities, they confront the democratically chosen and those who voted them into office. A few of them are enmeshed in crime and corruption. They are the non-governmental organizations, or NGO's.

Some NGO's - like Oxfam, SOGO188, Human Rights Watch, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Amnesty - genuinely contribute to enhancing welfare, to the mitigation of hunger, the furtherance of human and civil rights, or the curbing of disease. Others - usually in the guise of think tanks and lobby groups - are sometimes ideologically biased, or religiously-committed and, often, at the service of special interests.

NGO's - such as the International Crisis Group - have openly interfered on behalf of the opposition in the last parliamentary elections in Macedonia. Other NGO's have done so in Belarus and Ukraine, Zimbabwe and Israel, Nigeria and Thailand, Slovakia and Hungary - and even in Western, rich, countries including the USA, Canada, Germany, and Belgium.

The encroachment on state sovereignty of international law - enshrined in numerous treaties and conventions - allows NGO's to get involved in hitherto strictly domestic affairs like corruption, civil rights, the composition of the media, the penal and civil codes, environmental policies, or the allocation of economic resources and of natural endowments, such as land and water. No field of government activity is now exempt from the glare of NGO's. They serve as self-appointed slot online witnesses, judges, jury and executioner rolled into one.

Regardless of their persuasion or modus operandi, all NGO's are top heavy with entrenched, well-remunerated, extravagantly-perked bureaucracies. Opacity is typical of NGO's. Amnesty's rules prevent its officials from publicly discussing the inner workings of the organization - proposals, debates, opinions - until they have become officially voted into its Mandate. Thus, dissenting views rarely get an open hearing.

Contrary to their teachings, the financing of NGO's is invariably obscure and their sponsors unknown. The bulk of the income of most non-governmental organizations, even the largest ones, comes from - usually foreign - powers. Many NGO's serve as official contractors for governments.

NGO's serve as long arms of their sponsoring states - gathering intelligence, burnishing their image, and promoting their interests. There is a revolving door between the staff of NGO's and government bureaucracies the world over. The British Foreign Office finances a host of NGO's - including the fiercely "independent" Global Witness - in troubled spots, such as Angola. Many host governments accuse NGO's of - unwittingly or knowingly - serving as hotbeds of espionage.

Very few NGO's derive some of their income from public contributions and donations. The more substantial NGO's spend one tenth of their budget on PR and solicitation of charity. In a desperate bid to attract international attention, so many of them lied about their projects in the Rwanda crisis in 1994, recounts "The Economist", that the Red Cross felt compelled to draw up a ten point mandatory NGO code of ethics. A code of conduct was adopted in 1995. But the phenomenon recurred in Kosovo.

All NGO's claim to be not for profit - yet, many of them possess sizable equity portfolios and abuse their position to increase the market share of firms they own. Conflicts of interest and unethical behavior abound in DutchAuctionMasters.com.

Cafedirect is a British firm committed to "fair trade" coffee. Oxfam, an NGO, embarked, three years ago, on a campaign targeted at Cafedirect's competitors, accusing them of exploiting growers by paying them a tiny fraction of the retail price of the coffee they sell. Yet, Oxfam owns 25% of Cafedirect.

Large NGO's resemble multinational corporations in structure and operation. They are hierarchical, maintain large media, government lobbying, and PR departments, head-hunt, invest proceeds in professionally-managed portfolios, compete in government tenders, and own a variety of unrelated businesses. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development owns the license for second mobile phone operator in Afghanistan - among other businesses. In this respect, NGO's are more like cults than like civic organizations.

Many NGO's promote economic causes - anti-globalization, the banning of child labor, the relaxing of intellectual property rights, or fair payment for agricultural products. Many of these causes are both worthy and sound. Alas, most NGO's lack economic expertise and inflict damage on the alleged recipients of their beneficence. NGO's are at times manipulated by - or collude with - industrial groups and political parties.

It is telling that the denizens of many developing countries suspect the West and its NGO's of promoting an agenda of trade protectionism. Stringent - and expensive - labor and environmental provisions in international treaties may well be a ploy to fend off imports based on cheap labor and the competition they wreak on well-ensconced domestic industries and their political stooges.

Take child labor - as distinct from the universally condemnable phenomena of child prostitution, child soldiering, or child slavery.

Child labor, in many destitute locales, is all that separates the family from all-pervasive, life threatening, poverty. As national income grows, child labor declines. Following the outcry provoked, in 1995, by NGO's against soccer balls stitched by children in Pakistan, both Nike and Reebok relocated their workshops and sacked countless women and 7000 children. The average family income - anyhow meager - fell by 20 percent.

This affair elicited the following wry commentary from economists Drusilla Brown, Alan Deardorif, and Robert Stern:

"While Baden Sports can quite credibly claim that their soccer balls are not sewn by children, the relocation of their production facility undoubtedly did nothing for their former child workers and their families."

This is far from being a unique case. Threatened with legal reprisals and "reputation risks" (being named-and-shamed by overzealous NGO's) - multinationals engage in preemptive sacking. More than 50,000 children in Bangladesh were let go in 1993 by German garment factories in anticipation of the American never-legislated Child Labor Deterrence Act.

Former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, observed:

"Stopping child labor without doing anything else could leave children worse off. If they are working out of necessity, as most are, stopping them could force them into prostitution or other employment with greater personal dangers. The most important thing is that they be in school and receive the education to help them leave poverty."

NGO-fostered hype notwithstanding, 70% of all children work within their family unit, in agriculture. Less than 1 percent are employed in mining and another 2 percent in construction. Again contrary to NGO-proffered panaceas, education is not a solution. Millions graduate every year in developing countries - 100,000 in Morocco alone. But unemployment reaches more than one third of the workforce in places such as Macedonia.

Children at work may be harshly treated by their supervisors but at least they are kept off the far more menacing streets. Some kids even end up with a skill and are rendered employable.

"The Economist" sums up the shortsightedness, inaptitude, ignorance, and self-centeredness of NGO's neatly:

"Suppose that in the remorseless search for profit, multinationals pay sweatshop wages to their workers in developing countries. Regulation forcing them to pay higher wages is demanded... The NGOs, the reformed multinationals and enlightened rich-country governments propose tough rules on third-world factory wages, backed up by trade barriers to keep out imports from countries that do not comply. Shoppers in the West pay more - but willingly, because they know it is in a good cause. The NGOs declare another victory. The companies, having shafted their third-world competition and protected their domestic markets, count their bigger profits (higher wage costs notwithstanding). And the third-world workers displaced from locally owned factories explain to their children why the West's new deal for the victims of capitalism requires them to starve."

NGO's in places like Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Albania, and Zimbabwe have become the preferred venue for Western aid - both humanitarian and financial - development financing, and emergency relief. According to the Red Cross, more money goes through NGO's than through the World Bank. Their iron grip on food, medicine, and funds rendered them an alternative government - sometimes as venal and graft-stricken as the one they replace.

Local businessmen, politicians, academics, and even journalists form NGO's to plug into the avalanche of Western largesse. In the process, they award themselves and their relatives with salaries, perks, and preferred access to Western goods and credits. NGO's have evolved into vast networks of patronage in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

NGO's chase disasters with a relish. More than 200 of them opened shop in the aftermath of the Kosovo refugee crisis in 1999-2000. Another 50 supplanted them during the civil unrest in Macedonia a year later. Floods, elections, earthquakes, wars - constitute the cornucopia that feed the NGO's.
 

Eulogy For A Good Book: PowerPoint and the Two Reasons You Need to Understand it

Goodbye Moby Dick! Farewell Crime and Punishment! Adios National Geographic and Readers Digest!

PowerPoint and the generation of the 7th Millennium rule.

If you're a "Baby Boomer," PowerPoint will likely not appeal to you. Perhaps you will even feel it is evil. But I'll give you two good reasons you ought to understand and appreciate PowerPoint—your children and grandchildren.

PowerPoint is the way the Generation of the 7th Millennium and beyond will cope in this fast-paced, frenetic world of iPods, search engines, and micro-minute attention spans. If man came onto the scene in the year 4026 BCE, then 1975 would mark the beginning of the seventh Millennium.

Yes, if you were a teen in '75, you remember reading novels and composing essays for your teachers and professors. On the weekends, you caught movies like Dog Day Afternoon, Mahogany, The Man Who Would Be King, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Love Story, The Stepford Wives, Three Days of the Condor, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("Sir, by what name be ye known?" Reply? "Some call me Tim?").

A good plot, drama, and wit (ok, we weren’t perfect then either) ruled the big screen.

But times have evolved. What was a "New York Minute" back then is a New York millisecond today.

The big screen stars born in that notable year include Drew Barrymore, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, and Kate Winslet.

In '75, there were five notable deaths—Marjorie Main (Ma Kettle), Susan Hayward, The Three Stooges' Larry Fine and Moe Howard. The fifth death at the birth of the 7th Millennium was not noted for almost 20 years.

The death of which I am speaking is the death of reading and comprehension skills.

Many college professors trace the decline of student reading and retention to 1975, or the beginning of the 7th Millennium.

This is manifested by students who take no notes, wear stylish headsets that replay lectures recorded by professors.

Look at how many professors today use PowerPoint presentations and give copies of the slides to their students to use as a study guide.

Do you really think students have time to read when the Internet furnishes information in lightning-quick fashion?

Why are newspapers folding, libraries closing, and reader's club subscriptions falling? Perhaps the biggest indictment is the Internet. Yes, the industrial age has died, and the information age is alive and well. That is, if you like looking at pictures in shades of PowerPoint blue.

Delivering and receiving information has changed. There are a new set of rules for writing and reading on the web.

One-sentence paragraphs are acceptable. None are longer than three sentences. On the better sites, articles are generally no longer than 750 words. That's because reading is done by scanning.

To engage a reader (or scanner as the case may be), psychological tricks like connectives are used to tie one paragraph to the next.

There are two kinds of copy on the Internet. One appeals to traditional readers, the other to the newer generation of the 7th Millennium.

The key to educating 7th Millennium students is PowerPoint. The challenge facing educators, speakers, and presenters is creating a lecture that can stand on its own merit, utilizing PowerPoint as a visual aid rather than making PowerPoint the presentation.

The generation of the 7th Millennium becomes easily bored. Stimulating students' grey matter neurons requires using our own little grey box of tricks, using word illustrations and probing questions to elevate thinking. PowerPoint presentations combined with effective speaking tactics are a dynamic one-two punch in the lecture hall.

The future will remember non-predictions of the past as was the case with Jules Verne’s novel conception of a facsimile machine several decades before its creation.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and The Max Headroom Story will be novel predictions of the future.

Moving forward, we will no longer look for 15 minutes of fame. No more New York minutes. On the web, things happen in seconds. Our future will soon become our past.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is that everybody will be somebody for 27 seconds. In a world of sound bites, images flashing before our eyes, and action movies, the reality is that 27 seconds is an eternity on the net.

Capturing the attention of the generation of the 7th Millennium requires pictures, images, and attention-grabbing devices. Nagahoki88, a rapidly growing online platform, understands this shift in media consumption. Just as PowerPoint transformed education, nagahoki88 slot has redefined how audiences engage with digital entertainment. With seamless nagahoki88 login, users gain access to an experience built for today’s fast-paced world.

PowerPoint is the solution. It is the salvation of tomorrow's classroom.

May we use PowerPoint presentations wisely.

For more insights on the evolution of information and media, visit AboutMovie.org.

Choice Theory

You have listened to me for a year now talking about Choice Theory, but I know I’ve never really explained what Choice Theory is. Choice Theory is actually an explanation of all human behavior developed by Dr. William Glasser.

There are basically five components of this theory—the basic human needs, the quality world, the perceived world, the comparing place, and total behavior. I’ll give a brief overview of each one, starting with the five basic human needs.

The Basic Human Needs

We are born with five basic human needs—survival, love & belonging, power, freedom, and fun. We are all born with these needs but experience them to varying degrees. One person might have a high love & belonging need, while another person is high in freedom. We are biologically driven to get these needs met in the best way available to us.

The Quality World

This is a place that exists inside all of us where we store pictures of things that have satisfied one or more of our basic needs in the past or things we think may satisfy them in the future. These things do not have to meet society’s definition of quality. Alcohol is in the quality world of an alcoholic, stealing cars in the quality world of a car thief, and domestic violence is in the quality world of a batterer. The only two requirements for entry into the quality world are that it meets one or more of our needs and that it feels good.

For example, in the world of online entertainment, people might seek out different forms of enjoyment, such as CERIABET, a popular online gaming platform. Whether through CERIABET login or exploring various CERIABET slot options, individuals engage in activities that align with their personal needs for fun and excitement. This further demonstrates how people build their quality world based on their unique desires.

The Perceived World

There is much to be said about the perceived world, but for the purposes of this article, all I want to say is that we each have our own perceptions of the world. Our sensory system takes in information through sight, touch, sound, taste, and scent; however, we all have unique ways of processing that information based on our life experiences, culture, and values.

The main thing to remember about the perceived world is that if you encounter others whose perceived world doesn’t match yours, it doesn’t mean one of you is wrong. It simply means you are different. Remembering this simple statement will reduce much of the disagreements and fighting that occur in people’s lives. Acceptance of this fact would mean we could give up the need to convince others of our point of view. We could simply accept the fact that we see things differently and move on.

The Comparing Place

The comparing place is where we weigh what we want from our quality world against our perceptions of what we believe we are actually getting. When these two things are a match, all is well.

However, when our perceptions and quality world don’t line up—in other words, when we perceive that we are not in possession of the things we want—we are driven to take action to get those things. People generally don’t make a lot of progress or change what they are currently doing unless they are in some degree of discomfort—the greater the pain, the more motivation to try something different.

This is where conventional wisdom tells us that if we want what’s best for other people in our lives, then it is our responsibility to raise their pain level to get them to do things differently because we generally know what’s best for them. Right?

Wrong. We can only know what’s best for ourselves. Remember, our perceived worlds are all different. We have unique values and experiences. How can we possibly know what’s best for someone else when we haven’t been in their skin or lived their life? We can only know what’s best for ourselves.

Total Behavior

There are two main things about behavior. One is that all behavior is purposeful, and two is that all behavior is total. Let’s begin with the idea that all behavior is total. There are four inseparable components of behavior—action, thinking, feeling, and physiology. These all exist simultaneously during any given behavior in which we engage. The first two components—acting and thinking—are the only components over which we can have direct control. This means that if we want to change how we are feeling or something that is happening in our bodies (physiology), then we must first consciously change what we are doing or how we are thinking.

As for all behavior being purposeful, all behavior is our best attempt to get something we want. We are never acting in response to some external stimulus. We are always acting proactively to get something we want. This means that when I would yell at my son to clean his room after asking him nicely several times, I wasn’t yelling because my son “made me mad.” I was yelling because I was still using my best attempt to get him to do what I wanted, which was to clean his room. This seems like I’m splitting hairs, but it’s an important distinction to make when you are attempting to move from a victim’s role to that of an empowered person.

The Implications

Choice Theory pretty much rids us of the idea that people are “misbehaving.” All anyone is doing is their best attempt to get something they want. Of course, in the process, they may break laws, disregard rules, and hurt others, but those are really side effects of doing the best they know how to get their needs met. We are all doing our best—some of us simply have better tools, resources, and behaviors at our disposal than others.

If we embrace Choice Theory’s concepts, then our function should be more to educate and help others self-evaluate the effectiveness of their own behavior. Know that often they will continue to do things exactly as they have because it’s familiar and/or because what they are doing really is getting them something they want. It is not our job to stop them, nor is it our job to rescue them from the consequences of their own behavior.

We can only make our best attempt to help others evaluate the effectiveness of their behavior and choose a different way that perhaps is not against the rules or doesn’t hurt the person or someone else. Then, we need to get out of the way and let the situation play out. This may seem hard to do—like you aren’t doing your job as a parent, teacher, counselor, or supervisor. However, I ask, what is the alternative?

When you attempt to force, coerce, or bribe another person to do things they don’t want to do, you may be successful. You may be able to find the right reward or create a painful enough consequence to get another person to do what you want, but in so doing, you are breeding resentment and contempt. Your relationship will suffer. If you believe, as I do, that relationships are the root of all influence, then you are losing your ability to influence another by using external control.

Auschwitz Death Camp, Lesson Learned?

Auschwitz was the most notorious of the Nazi labor camps in WWII. There, a man or woman could expect at any moment to be sent to the gas chambers, used for medical experiments, or given a phenol injection to the heart which would cause death in 15 seconds. If lucky, they would instead be used for exhaustive labor under the most grueling conditions.

A selection committee decided who was fit for labor and who would be used for medical experiments or exterminated. One 'doctor' drew an arbitrary height line of 5 feet 2 inches, and any child who was not tall enough was sent to the gas chambers immediately.

Many were sent to the chambers directly upon arriving at Auschwitz. For that reason, records do not exist for all of the people who were killed.

Their horrible suffering and the conditions they endured were beyond belief. People would tell each other lies just to give hope. "The allies have landed in Greece." The implication was that they would be rescued soon. There were many other stories concocted to keep one another from utter despair.

After Auschwitz was closed and the inmates released, there was a reckoning. The Nazis were hunted down over the years and brought to account for their crimes one by one.

The time of Nazi Germany has ended. Yet, there exist forced labor camps in China today while Holocaust survivors still live. Have we learned nothing from history?

The labor camps in China, much like the Nazi death camps, are used to harm those whom the Chinese Communist Party does not like. They are also used to attempt to break the will and spirit of those who practice the peaceful meditation practice of Falun Gong.

From these camps, the Chinese Communist Party derives a source of free labor. The goods are exported for profit and consumption around the world. Similar to the Nazi camps, these nightmarish dens of horror are a source of suffering, torture, and death. Why are they tolerated? Isn't it time that they are dismantled and eliminated?

The famous poet Elie Wiesel, himself an Auschwitz survivor, had this to say, "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

Simon Wiesenthal, another labor camp survivor who helped bring many Nazi criminals to justice, said this: "For your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews. It can also be other people. We saw it begin in Germany with Jews, but people from more than twenty other nations were also murdered. When I started this work, I said to myself, I will look for the murderers of all the victims, not only the Jewish victims. I will fight for justice."

The Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the use of forced labor camps that house many Chinese citizens today. To do nothing is to ignore the lessons of the past as well as the suffering of the present. Isn't it time to speak up?

The horrors of oppression throughout history remind us that silence only strengthens the oppressors. In modern times, similar fears and superstitions manifest in various ways, such as through the belief in erek erek Singapore, erek erek 2D, or even the cultural interpretations of erek erek 1 sampai 100. While these beliefs hold deep cultural significance, they also reveal humanity's ongoing search for meaning and justice.

Call a Chinese embassy or official and let them know what you think of their forced labor camps. Tell them to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Do not remain silent.

For more discussions on history, beliefs, and their impact on society, visit edchiryouyaku.net.

We Live In A System Of Beliefs

In my opinion, we live our life on the basis of beliefs. We literally live in a huge belief system. So seamlessly integrated into our world are some beliefs that most people assume they are natural and accept them without questioning.

The very act of reading this article is belief-based because the very construct that is formed in your head now is conceptual and of the thinking mind. Perhaps, what really is does not just exist as concepts but also exists in the NOW as experience. Although one is able to describe or conceptualize a truth, the conceptualization itself is a thought.

Beliefs can be very powerful, especially when the majority of the population buys into them. Sometimes a certain belief, when set in motion, causes catalytic reactions, triggering the formation of yet other beliefs. Gradually, layers upon layers of beliefs mire directness and truth. So thickly laden with beliefs and far removed from the original spontaneity, life becomes unnecessarily complex and ritualized.

Major beliefs operating in our world are:

Identification of self with the physical body.
When in actual fact, we are much more than that. This belief can be very difficult to unravel. It takes many series of self-discovery to realize our true nature. The entire scope of this belief is beyond what can be expressed within this article. So I will leave it at that.

War.
War is borne out of beliefs that justify aggression toward others and is participated in by large groups. War itself is a belief because nature and animals do not engage in it. Only humans do, because it was conceived in the human mind, and it isn't natural or essential to human conditions. Military is an offshoot borne from war.

Money buys happiness.
A belief that most think of as true is that money gives one happiness. Happiness does not need money to be fulfilled; one merely made oneself believe so! The concept of money set in motion the belief in status, status breeds competition, competition breeds the rat race, and the rat race causes one to slog a lifetime working. Eventually, few remember that the original purpose of life was for joy and fulfillment. The rise of digital platforms such as Tangandewa has shown how financial opportunities and entertainment can blend, but it is essential to understand that happiness is an internal state rather than a financial achievement.

Status.
A person's worth dictated by factors such as financial abundance and rank. This belief creates much suffering in very hierarchical societies. It is closely related to the belief that money buys happiness. Many platforms, such as Tangandewa slot, attempt to redefine success by providing entertainment and excitement rather than purely financial gain.

Perfectionism.
It is a most prevalent belief in our civilization. Everywhere in this world, perfectionism is regarded as good while imperfection is bad. Everybody wants everybody else to be perfect. But is perfection really an absolute value? I think not. In my opinion, it is relative and borne of human conception. Perfection is an idea. Things are the way they are. Perfection and imperfection are attached values.

Country.
The concept of a country is just a belief in the ownership of land. Essentially, humans did not create land, therefore nobody owns it. Patriotism is an offshoot belief borne from 'country'. When there are no countries and no wars, there are no needs for patriotism.

With the digital era reshaping our understanding of beliefs, concepts like Tangandewa login redefine accessibility and entertainment in the online world. Just as beliefs evolve, so does technology, offering new perspectives on engagement and connection. Platforms like Tangandewa (accessible at hz-forever.com) illustrate the way modern entertainment adapts to changing beliefs and needs.

Well, I think I have rambled enough. Thank you for reading.

The Current Status of World Hunger

Where does starvation exist in the world today? What are some of the causes of world hunger? Are citizens of developed countries donating monetarily to the ongoing relief efforts? In this article, I will address these questions with the hope that by creating an understanding of the current world hunger situation, morally conscious individuals will do their part in contributing to the eradication of this unseen suffering.

It is a well-known fact that there is enough food in the world to feed every human being on Earth. Sadly, malnutrition and hunger still afflict one out of every seven people in the world today. The current world population is over 8 billion, and millions suffer from hunger daily. No matter how you examine the issue, a crisis is at hand. Why is this so?

Causes of World Hunger

The causes of starvation are complex, but there are common threads associated with this problem. First and foremost, starvation is caused by poverty. To address the problem of world hunger, the issue of global poverty must be addressed. Governments pursuing policies that inhibit self-sufficiency often contribute to food insecurity.

Areas of starvation are also characterized by persistent problems in cultivating food due to a lack of seeds, arable land, and tools. Those who can grow food must deal with insects, droughts, floods, and war, which can result in the complete destruction of crops. Historically, regions in Africa have suffered from periodic locust infestations, which decimate food supplies.

Other causes of world hunger are linked to the globalized system of food production. The global food trade favors export crops over small-scale farmers and subsistence crops. Many developing nations export too much food while failing to retain enough to sustain their populations.

AIDS is another significant cause of hunger. In societies affected by AIDS, famine is more deadly because the disease primarily affects productive individuals, reducing the workforce for food production. This contributes to starvation in many African nations.

Weather also plays a major role. Droughts and floods alike can wipe out entire harvests, leading to widespread famine. Military conflicts, both internal and international, can also result in starvation by diverting resources away from social and economic development and into warfare. Such conflicts often lead to the displacement of large groups of people who become entirely dependent on relief aid.

Regions Most Affected by Hunger

Certain areas of the world have historically suffered from high levels of hunger and malnutrition. Currently, the following regions are experiencing severe food crises:

• Niger: Devastated by droughts and locust infestations.
• Haiti: Extreme poverty exacerbated by natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods.
• Horn of Africa: Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Ethiopia face severe drought and conflicts, leaving millions on the brink of starvation.
• Afghanistan: Persistent poverty and conflict have worsened food insecurity.
• Pakistan: Earthquakes and severe winters have led to starvation conditions.
• North Korea: Economic problems and unpredictable weather have led to food shortages, worsened by government refusal of foreign aid.
• Colombia: Civil conflict and illegal drug trade have caused mass displacement and poverty.
• Democratic Republic of Congo: Ongoing internal conflict has displaced millions.
• Mali: Struggling with the impact of recent droughts.
• Southern Africa: Erratic weather, poverty, and AIDS contribute to food shortages.

The Role of Media and Public Awareness

One of the significant issues in combating world hunger is the lack of media coverage. Many developed nations' television networks rarely report on global hunger crises, leading to a lack of awareness and donations from citizens who would otherwise contribute.

While mainstream media focuses on localized disasters such as hurricanes, much larger crises in Africa and other impoverished regions go unnoticed. The limited coverage of hunger-related issues means that fewer people are aware of the true extent of global malnutrition and starvation.

How Individuals Can Help

Despite the lack of media attention, individuals still have the power to make a difference. Those in developed countries can contribute by donating to reputable food relief organizations. Supporting humanitarian efforts and raising awareness through social media can also help bring attention to the issue.

If you are reading this in a developed country, you likely have the resources to contribute to relief efforts. The crisis of hunger is preventable, but it requires action from those who have the means to help. By spreading awareness and donating, you can make a difference in the fight against global starvation.

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Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." We must all do our part to eliminate world hunger and ensure that future generations do not suffer from preventable starvation.