THE U. N. AND HUNGER.

Hunger and Thirst.

The difference of opinion expressed by world leaders at the U.N. antipoverty summit this year is not surprising at all, with President Ahmadinejad of Iran holding on to the fact that capitalism is mainly responsible for the world's poor economic conditions.

He reiterated that, governments, led by the U.S., have somehow relinquished their moral obligation to bring lesser nations into the decision making process of the overall world economy. He continued to appeal for "the overhaul of 'undemocratic and unjust' global decision-making bodies, which are dominated by the U. S. and other Western powers."

The meeting has been convened to "assess and spur on achievement of U.N. targets set by world leaders in 2000"; and thus to garnish some results from its Millennium Development Goals that have been set some ten years before. It (meeting) portrays why the U. N. has been formed, several years back, to deal with all kinds of problems, including poverty, of course.

Now, it has somewhat the privilege to weave through the bickering and argument that have characterized the U. N. for so long, and has made it necessary for the suggestion that it must be moved from New York City to some other place, because it has outlived its usefulness.

Billions of people are still suffering from diseases of several kinds; and there is still hunger and thirst in many parts of the world; however, do all these things have to be attributed to the U.S. and its few rich allies, or do all leaders have to admit their share of responsibility for the negligence that has prompted such economic woes that the world is facing today?

The answer is "No", to the former part of the question; and "Yes" to the latter part. What must happen is for some cultures to change to allow basic education to become widespread, even in the remotest parts of the world; and for the attitudes of governments to be more responsive to the needs of the people that they are supposed to serve.

It is wonderful for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to stress that "the primary responsibility for development lies with the governments of the developing countries," and she continued to emphasize that "the key to economic prosperity was good governance and a flourishing capitalist economy."

Such is the statement people are waiting to hear from the leaders of the world at the U. N.; alongside the fact that capitalism is good, if utilized properly to benefit all peoples.