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Organizing, holding, disseminating and broadcasting the global human referendum costs 2'634'700'000 US$ . Should the people of the world make the courageous decisions to resolve any or all of the world's problems, practical solutions take immediate effect.
Providing a basic, livable existence to everybody does not cut into the comfort zone of those who already enjoy an elevated economic status. The misconception that there isn't enough to go around can be proven wrong.
XVI. COST OF ALLEVIATION
WATER
WATER PROBLEMS: The absence of a safe water supply
contributes to an estimated 80% of disease and death in the
developing world. 70% of the world's population lives in countries
that do not achieve safe water goals set by the United Nations.
60% of rural families and 25% of urban homes on the planet lack
safe water. In total, well over 1 billion people need immediate
access to improved water sources. Water-borne diseases such
as cholera, crytosporidium, guinea worm and schistosomiasis
affect over 300 million people on a daily basis.
WATER SOLUTIONS: Techniques have been perfected that allow for the desalinization of ocean water, digging of deeper wells and the construction of reservoirs. In most instances such comprehensive and supervised efforts to construct new and improve existing sources can raise the water quality to a healthy level. Financially assisted programs that provide tools and training for tapping into subterranean water tables have proven to be highly effective in rural areas. A joint program of the Indian government, UNICEF and local non-governmental organizations now supplies water to over 550 million Indian citizens with 2.2 million hand pumps, at an annual cost of $4.00 per person. India's rural access to potable water rose from 30% in 1980 to 80% in 1992 as a result of such programs.
COSTS TO FIX WATER PROBLEMS: 1'000'000'000
people do not have clean drinking water. Installation costs
for a clean water system range from less than 5.00 US$ per person
served to 100 US$ per person. On the average it would cost 50
US$ per person to alleviate this problem. This includes investment
in water and sanitation materials, training programs and coordinated
research and development support.
1'000'000'000
X 50 US$ = 50'000'000'000 US$ - SOLVES WATER NEEDS.
FOOD
FOOD PROBLEMS: 32%
of the world population lack basic micro-nutrients. 20% of
all people lack sufficient income in cash to meet the most
basic biological needs for food. 830 million people are severely
malnourished and live with this chronic medical condition
on a daily basis. 16 million people a year starve to death.
FOOD SOLUTIONS: Many people are too
poor to buy readily available food, even though the world
currently produces enough wheat, rice and other grains to
provide every human being with 3,500 calories a day. That
doesn't count many other commonly eaten foods such as vegetables,
beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats, and fish.
When all these are included, enough food is available to provide
at least 4.3 pounds of food per person, per day, worldwide.
Even most "hungry countries" have enough food for
all their people right now. Many individuals in those countries
just can't afford to pay the same high prices for the commodities
as the rich countries that import the agricultural products.
The donation and transportation of the mountains of surplus
foods to those in need and a long-term reassessment on agricultural
policies can lead to a rapid alleviation on the burden that
the starving carry. Focused famine relief, international food
banks, seed, equipment and fertilizer distribution and a sustainable
agriculture education program can permanently pull hundreds
of millions of people from starvation.
COSTS TO FIX FOOD PROBLEMS: 1'300'000'000
people can not meet their basic biological need for food.
It is estimated that 75 US$ needs to be invested in every
person who is starving. This quantity would enable that person
to continuously take care of his or her nutrition needs.
1'300'000'000 X 75 US$ = 97'500'000'000 US$ - SOLVES FOOD
NEEDS.
SANITATION
SANITATION PROBLEMS: The UN estimates that close to half of
the population in all urban areas within developing countries
lives in inner-city slums. 38% of the world population does
not have basic sanitation. Living next to open sewers is one
of the biggest contributing factors in the spread of preventable
diseases.
SANITATION SOLUTIONS: Ecological sanitation
solves problems by conserving fresh water resources, promoting
dignified and healthy living, and recycling nutrients from
human waste for use in agriculture. By using traditional,
well-established techniques we can easily construct sewage
systems, septic tanks and latrines with minimal financial
investment.
COSTS TO FIX SANITATION PROBLEMS: Many elements
that alleviate the worst conditions for the 2'394'000'000
people in need of basic sanitation, occur in conjunction with
the effort for water purification. The advancement of rural
areas costs up to twenty times more than the integration of
people in densely populated urban zones. With an average of
30 US$ per person the most atrocious living conditions can
be cleaned up and permanent sanitation systems can be constructed,
installed and maintained.
2'394'000'000 X 30 US$ = 71'820'000'000 US$ - SOLVES SANITATION
NEEDS.
HEALTH CARE AND MEDICINES
HEALTH CARE AND MEDICINE PROBLEMS: 62% of
the world population lives in countries that are not on track
to reduce the under-5 mortality rate. 32% of all people lack
low-cost, essential medicines. 30% of the population in the
Southern hemisphere (Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America,
South America and Southern and Eastern Asia) suffers from
one or more illnesses. 23% of the world population completely
lacks any access to basic health service at all. Every single
day 30’000 children die from preventable diseases.
HEALTH CARE AND MEDICINE SOLUTIONS: The primary
focus emphasizes preventive medicine, childbirth assistance,
first aid solutions, basic drug dispensation, nutrition programs,
and health education. Community Health Providers that receive
6-9 months of intensive training and supervision can handle
75% of all illnesses and health problem needs of the planet.
Health workers under such a system can provide immunizations,
vaccinations, antibiotics, oral rehydration therapies, growth
monitoring, iron and vitamin supplements, advice and help
with natal care, breast feeding, birth spacing, weaning, contraception,
AIDS prevention and the prevention of other illnesses as well
as the referral of seriously ill patients to the nearest health
facility. Many countries have used this method to make dramatic
improvements in lowering infant, child and maternal mortality
rates, as well as raising overall life expectancy and other
indicators on the state of health. More time and resources
need to be allocated for pharmaceutical research on health
problems without economic concerns. Medicines already exist
to cure many sick people. These remedies just need to be transported
to those people who need them and be made available to them
at reasonable terms.
COSTS TO FIX HEALTH CARE AND MEDICINES PROBLEMS:
Training one health worker for an average of every 200 families
that desperately need basic medical attention costs a total
of 750 million US$. Providing supervision, regular retraining,
infrastructure, support, basic medical supplies and salaries
to these health-care workers would cost approximately 15 billion
US$ per year. Such a system is not fee-based. The collection
of regionally adjustable fees would reduce this cost substantially.
Initial training of new health care workers = 750´000´000
US$. 5 years of supervision, support, supplies and salaries
= 75´000´000´000 US$
TOTAL OF 75'750'000'000 US$ - SOLVES HEALTH / MEDICINES NEEDS.
QUESTION
1 - HEALTH: TOTAL COST TO FIX THE LACK OF WATER + FOOD + SANITATION
+ HEALTH CARE + MEDICINES =
295’070’000’000 US $ OR 59´014´000´000
US$ PER YEAR FOR 5 YEARS.
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TRADE
TRADE PROBLEMS: 73% of the world's population lives
in the "developing" world. The average person living
in these countries faces insurmountable obstacles when trying
to sell or trade into the global market. Travel and work restrictions
alone make it almost impossible for entrepreneurs to reach
outside a very limited circle. For the powerful and well-funded
few exactly the opposite seems to be true. Transnational corporations
and financial institutions treat trade obstacles as sheer
formalities. Double standards regulate everything from import/export
duties to the prices paid for the manufacturing of goods and
salaries.
TRADE SOLUTIONS: Many of the existing financial
and trade organizations can serve as very effective platforms
for the spread of fair and universally beneficial business
practices. Immediate steps to enhance the circulation of trade-related
benefits include the end of agricultural export subsidies,
the reduction of over-production and export dumping, the adjustment
of patent rules and the stabilization of prices for primary
commodities. The liberalization of immigration rules and lifting
travel restrictions as well as the reduction of unnecessary
duties and taxes can instantaneously and drastically improve
business opportunities worldwide. The existing interwoven
markets and co-dependent economies offer a fertile breeding
ground for an accessible source of wealth for everyone. Poor
countries have been successful integrated into regional organizations
such as the European Union by applying established trading
and investment techniques. With well-managed assistance, any
country can immediately improve opportunities, infrastructure
and the standard of living.
COSTS TO FIX TRADE PROBLEMS: The solutions
themselves can generate steady financial growth from the outset.
“Developed” countries spend approximately 1 billion
US $ a day on domestic agricultural subsidies. Resources from
such subsidies can be freed up and allocated to finance an
universally fair and profitable system. Limited initial investment
guarantees a managed restructuring process and a smooth transition
until the expanded system's resources can replenish themselves.
Most trade barriers exist as bureaucratic red tape and are
cheap to abolish and change.
TOTAL OF 32'000'000'000 US$ - SOLVES TRADE NEEDS.
WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
WEALTH DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS: 56% of all
people receive as much income per year as the richest 1% of
the planet already own. Debt and interest payment from the
poorest countries to financial institutions worldwide amounts
to 199´000´000´000 US$ per year. Many of
the loans that hold a good part of the “developing”
world in its grip have been misappropriated and never reached
the people that they were intended for. The wealth of the
planet is systematically siphoned off to the "developed"
world through an entrenched network of skewed exchanges. The
debt remains, stifling productivity and creating an impediment
to future investment while the average citizen in the “developing”
world shoulders all the weight.
WEALTH DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONS: Nobody expects
to collect piles of paper money, precious metals, stock options
and jewels into a big mountain and then hand little plastic
bags of loot to everybody. Wealth doesn't work like that.
The systematic process of rectification requires a new wave
of aggressive investments that doesn't continue the cycles
of dependency. A fundamental re-evaluation of the trading
mentality and the lifting of crippling restrictions stimulates
the circulation of wealth. Microcredit programs to small businesses
and entrepreneurs have proven to be immensely successful and
can serve as a perfect basis for the expanded effort to distribute
wealth to the planet. A comprehensive debt retirement program
will enable nations to meet and renegotiate their destabilizing
repayment schedule. Most of the tangible wealth in the form
of resources is already located in the “developing”
world. This wealth can reach the people that need it the most
when a simple restructuring process occurs that deliberately
includes all people into the flow of wealth and guarantees
equal value for goods and services everywhere.
COSTS TO FIX WEALTH DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS:
$500 billion of current debt needs to be discounted so that
heavily indebted nations can make strategic investments that
will strengthen their economies and produce self-sustaining
growth. Some “developing” nations pay 30% to 40%
of their foreign exchange earnings on servicing debts. The
immediate capital that can be freed up to invest in the local
community becomes evident. Stabilized national economies are
better able to attract outside investment and generate more
revenues from internal sources for social programs. The expansion
of economies, the creation of more jobs, an increased standard
of living and social stability are all pleasant effects of
equalized and expanded wealth circulation.
TOTAL OF 218'000'000'000 US$ - SOLVES WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
NEEDS.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY PROBLEMS: 90% of the world population
has never used the internet. 50% of all people have never
made a phone call. 33% of humankind has no electricity.
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS: The construction of the referendum
network itself provides the first building blocks of a bridge
over the digital divide. Taking advantage of the multiple
existing communication systems and newly deployed power and
communications lines, even more end-users can be connected
into the global network. Access to technology is about more
than just physical availability. Real access requires user-friendly
hardware, training possibilities, content in local languages
and a supportive environment.
COSTS TO FIX TECHNOLOGY PROBLEMS: The smart
and cheap alternative to individual access can be found in
the establishment of public Telecenters that serve private,
commercial and educational needs. The American National Telephone
Cooperative Association, which brings together rural telecommunications
companies and cooperatives, estimates the cost of setting
up a simple telephone shop at between 3000 US$ and 10’000
US$. If one Telephone shop is set up for every 1000 users
and this occurs for half the world's population that means:
3’150’000 Telephone Shops at 6’500 US$ =
20´475´000´000 US$. Expansion of Landlines,
Electricity and Satellite Systems = 15´000´000´000
US$. Publicly Accessible Hardware = 12´000´000´000
US$.
TOTAL OF 47'475'000'000 US$
- SOLVES TECHNOLOGY NEEDS.
EDUCATION
EDUCATION PROBLEMS: 850 million people are
illiterate. 130 million children of school age are growing
up without access to basic education. Girls represent nearly
60% of the children out of school. In many countries, this
gender gap widens even further at the secondary level. Although
education is the most fundamental tool to improve one's standard
of living it seems to be a topic that is often deliberately
neglected. Education programs inevitably become the first
victims of budget cuts and structural adjustments. The sorry
state of public education affects the richest and the poorest
countries alike.
EDUCATION SOLUTIONS: A special focus has
to address the inclusion of women and girls into the educational
process. Literacy can be improved in the short term for children
and adults by using already existing books and tools. Computer-literacy
courses and distance-learning programs combine expanded access
and advanced training for both teachers and students. The
development of technology skills and the dissemination of
educational content can occur in remotely connected classrooms.
Improving education is largely a matter of intensive teacher
training, the establishing of resource centers, the connection
of educational networks and the establishment of an international
curriculum.
COSTS TO FIX EDUCATION PROBLEMS: Educator recruitment
and training alongside the distribution of traditional learning
tools amounts to one of the cheapest and yet one of the most
important components to help people lift themselves from chronic
poverty. Most of the technology needed to connect schools and
learning institutions has already been covered in the technology
section.
TOTAL OF 12'000'000'000 US$ - SOLVES EDUCATION NEEDS.
QUESTION
2 - ACCESS: TOTAL COST TO FIX THE LACK OF ACCESS TO TRADE
+ WEALTH DISTRIBUTION + TECHNOLOGY + EDUCATION =
309’475’000’000 US $ OR 61´895´000´000
US$ PER YEAR FOR 5 YEARS.
VIOLENT CONFLICT AND WAR
VIOLENT CONFLICT AND WAR PROBLEMS: 68% of all people
live in countries where the government is involved in a form
of violent conflict. In the last century, the lives of 250 million
people were deliberately extinguished through wars, government
inflicted deaths, politically motivated murder and famine triggered
by violent conflict. 50% of civilian casualties in war are children
.
VIOLENT CONFLICT AND WAR SOLUTIONS: The resolution
of violent conflicts and wars relies on a simple change of
attitude. In thousands of years of collective history not
a single act of aggression has ever led to a permanent state
of stability and peace. The fundamental tools for arbitration
are already in place. The resolution of all conflicts can
take place through diplomacy. By fixing the global problems
regarding health and access (Questions 1& 2), 99.9% of
all reasons that lead to violent conflicts are eliminated
right from the start.
COSTS TO FIX VIOLENT CONFLICT AND WAR PROBLEMS:
By reducing aggressive activities and redirecting the efforts
of the arms industries and militaries, many much-needed funds,
know-how and resources can be allocated to constructive programs.
NO COST TO SOLVE VIOLENT CONFLICT AND WAR NEEDS.
QUESTION
3 - SECURITY: TOTAL COST TO RESOLVE VIOLENT CONFLICTS AND
WARS = 0 US $
| SUMMARY
COSTS FOR HEALTH + ACCESS + SECURITY |
|
| |
|
| WATER |
50'000'000'000 |
| FOOD |
97'500'000'000 |
| SANITATION |
71'820'000'000 |
| HEALTH CARE AND MEDICINES |
75'750'000'000 |
| TRADE |
32'000'000'000 |
| WEALTH DISTRIBUTION |
218'000'000'000 |
| TECHNOLOGY |
47'475'000'000 |
| EDUCATION |
12'000'000'000 |
| WAR AND VIOLENT CONFLICT |
NO COST |
| |
|
| GRAND TOTAL |
604'545'000'000 |
| OR
120´909´000´000 US$ PER YEAR
FOR 5 YEARS. |
THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF ALL OF THE SOLUTIONS ABOVE TAKES A TOTAL OF FIVE YEARS.
IN ALL CASES THE PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED TO CONSTRUCT AS WELL
AS SUSTAIN THE IMPROVED SITUATION.
The biggest ailments are preventable and resolvable. We know
how many of us are hurting and what it costs to fix the problems.
The suffering of everybody is quantifiable.
It just costs money to fix the problems facing humankind.
Money. That's it.
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