The Gulf Crisis and New World Order — Page 313
The Gulf Crisis & The New World Order THE CURSE OF BEGGING From the economic point of view as well as for maintaining their military strength, such countries have no other alternative but to go begging for their survival. The final analysis is that India and Pakistan have been afflicted with the 'curse of begging'. On one pretext or the other, they reach out and extend their hands for 'alms' from the East as well as from the West. Thus, an amicable solution of the "Kashmir dispute" and other similar disputes could result in a revolutionary progress in these areas. Besides these, there are other matters to be tackled. Not only India and Pakistan but many countries in Africa, Asia, South America and in the Third world face such problems. As a result of regional disputes, restlessness and lack of mutual trust, they are forced to spend a much higher percentage of their revenues on defence than that spent by the affluent countries. As compared to these poor Third world countries, the rich nations do not spend even one-tenth of their percentage. Many rich nations spend about 3% to 5% of their revenues on defence. If this percentage reaches 7, we hear heated debates and protests against such expenditure. Now imagine the luxury of the poor under-developed nations who spend 60% and even up to 70% on defence and still find it insufficient and then go out seeking military aid. THE NEED FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY The economic condition of poor countries can never be rectified because economic aid has turned them into beggars. Every poor country is in this deplorable state. Any person who adopts the habit of clinging to a false standard of living or one who becomes habitual to begging to maintain that artificial standard, becomes psychologically unfit to make any improvement in his economic condition or to have any confidence and self reliance. Similar is the case of nations. You may never have seen beggars attaining prosperity. They beg and eat; their lives are deplorable. Their entire lives are spent in misery and want. In contrast to this, those who learn to live in contentment, sometimes progressively rise from extremely poor conditions and become very rich. Thus unfortunately, the nations of the Third world are under another curse i. e. lack of contentment, and the lack of self-respect 313