• HOLY WEDNESDAY

• Greed

• June 2004
MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2004
HOLY WEDNESDAY
JUNE 11, 2004

SHAMELESS, CRUEL AND GREEDY

We are in the grasp of cruel and greedy women and men,

They own the giant corporations throughout America,
An in every country throughout the world without end.

Governments of industrial nations to their will bend,

So that they may rape and plunder the undeveloped,
And the bounty to the rich nations then shamelessly send.

This thing I know, all of the children, that must go hungry;

All that are ignorant, are sick and must drink foul water;
All of the downtrodden in the world are related to me.

In Nigeria and Indonesia men toil day long,

They barely survive on the dollar a day that they earn.
They grovel in huts, ignorance and bad health, Oh! That’s wrong.

In the Philippines, Central America, Vietnam, and Africa;

Energy, transportation, clean water and sanitation,
Are inadequate and so it is in South America.

We have a duty to protect those that are so helpless,

Some say it comes from God; some from natural evolution.
Honor requires we heed that duty no matter its source.

If we can not tear away these tentacles of greed,

From the throats of our children in our family,
Then we will all strangle because they are in such need.
Think not that their suffering next door to us will long abide.
Three-fourths hungry and one-fourth infected with consumerism,
Will collapse economies and order on every side.

Fast on Wednesday. Say to those in power Share all our wealth,

With all our kin. On that holy day, know pain and suffer.
Share the pangs of hunger of children; so that all know health.

HOLY WEDNESDAY

How can I as an individual do anything to influence the industrial nations to

share their wealth with
those countries that suffer in such desperate poverty? Most of you feel that we
can do nothing. It
is just requires too much money to run for office or in any other way effectively
influence
government policy. Oh how wrong that is! In a very simple way you can change
the world.
Mahatma Gandhi has pointed the way. Violence is not needed. There is a way to
express your
will. I propose a spiritual movement that would supplement but not supplant
existing religions and
ethical beliefs. I propose that no matter what your religion and even if you oppose
all of the
religions that you observe Holy Wednesday. All we need to do to change the
world is to keep
Wednesday holy.

1.On that day we will fast. You will eat nothing. You go about your work or play as
usual
except that, unless health considerations not permit it, you eat nothing on that
day. You
might drink water, coffee or tea. And just before bedtime you might take some
juice so that
your blood sugar does not go too low.
2.You may want to take something to help you sleep. That will help if an empty
stomach
keeps you awake.
3.On that day at what would be your meal times you will meditate. You will
consider
the plight of the millions of those children that go to bed hungry every night. You
will on one
day a week is at one with them. It will encourage you to take individual action
that
alleviates the plight of the downtrodden.
4.Do not buy groceries or anything not essential on Wednesday, that is, get their
attention by freezing commerce on that day every week.
5.Do not eat in a café or restaurant on Wednesday.

6. In the evening on Wednesday take a stroll around your neighborhood. If they

are
interested speak to whomever that will listen about the need for us to share our
wealth with the
underprivileged.

If reasons of health require you to eat every day do so, but donate the amount you
spend on food
for one day to a charity that is dedicated to feeding the poor or pay for an ad in
your local paper
that says only, "gerryjoesmith.com and then click on HOLY WEDNESDAY" or
pay to have this web site broadcast on search engines
over the internet. Eventually millions of people will read this article. You are
reading this because
you read such an ad, are you not? Remember over and over that all of the hungry
children of the
world are in your family. The food and restaurant industry will notice. Will they
not notice that
business falls off on Wednesday and wonder why. If enough people keep
Wednesday holy, the
politicians will realize that most people really do care about the misery in the
third world. By
keeping Wednesday holy you vote. The politicians then will respond. In time, no
child in the world
will die of hunger or go to bed hungry.

The primary threat to world peace is not terrorist activity by religious zealots or
Communist
ideology. The threat is so obvious that it is ignored. It is that many members of
our family live in
desperate poverty. All of the hungry children of the world are in our family.

We ask ourselves why these terrorists hate us so. Are we not the city on the hill?
Do we not
welcome the downtrodden of the world to our shores? Are we not a beacon of
liberty? Do we
not send great sums to the World Bank and other organizations to build up the
poorer nations?
Do we not send thousands of missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers and others
overseas to bring
aid and comfort to individuals in need?

I think we must remember that one billion Moslems do not hate us but admire
and seek to emulate
us. They are not responsible for the awful suffering in New York.

Yes, we should seek justice, but if we are to receive justice must we not do justice?
One billion
Moslems sympathize with us but at the same time they stand witness to the fact
that the wealthy
nations of the world have garnished unto themselves at least 80 percent of the
worlds wealth and
resources. We leave most of the one billion Moslems in awful poverty. They have
not enough to
eat. They lack basic medical care. They are ill clothed. They lack clean water and
sanitation. They
live in shacks.

In "One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest" the character played by Jack Nicholson said
that Nurse
Ratchet liked to play with a stacked deck. The four-fifth of the world’s population
that suffers
silently in misery cannot help but see that we too play with a stacked deck. We
support regimes in
Central America that allow United Fruit Company to pay miserable wages so that
they can sell
mountains of cheap bananas at Sam`s Club. We make book with tyrants and
dictatorships so that
we can suck the oil away from those countries whether or not the great mass of
the people in
those countries enjoys a living wage. We arrange to trade our goods and services
at a high price
to obtain the minerals and wood products that we need. The populations of the
countries that
furnish us our raw materials are very often left in awful poverty. And even as we
seek to find and
punish those who so cruelly destroyed more than five thousand lives in New York
our motives
can be looked at with some degree of suspicion. It is interesting that we are
launching our attack
on the terrorist from Uzbekistan which along with it's neighbors sit on vast oil
reserves and the
easiest way to get that oil to market is via pipeline through Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Our
President is an oilman. Can we wonder that many will look upon our motives
with suspicion?

I need not cite statistics to prove the obvious. However I cannot help but
remember things that I
have experienced that highlight how much many in the world suffer. In Mexico
and Central
America I have witnessed deplorable poverty. The image of an elderly woman in
Russia clutching
a fifteen cent loaf of bread as though it were the most precious thing on earth will
ever remain with
me. People who have lived Africa, Asia and the Philippines told me that
conditions there are even
more dismal. One engineer, told me of his design for an irrigation pump powered
by a bicycle. It
was a great improvement over hauling in buckets of water. I asked him why he
did not get a grant
to bring in a gasoline or electric powered pump. He told me that one well
meaning young man had
done just that. Unfortunately, that the pump rusted away because the villagers
could not afford
fuel for it and lacked the skill and means to repair it when it quit functioning.
Electric power was
not available. People there live in huts with dirt floors, build fires for cooking and
haul in water by
hand. My friends, of course, they left after a few years. But the villagers will live
like that for
centuries more if we do nothing meaningful to alleviate their suffering. When I
was living
temporarily in a convalescent hotel, I had a roommate who suffered a nervous
breakdown
because to the poverty that he witnessed. He was stationed in a remote village in
Asia. His village
had been there for more than a thousand years. They had to haul water one mile
up a hill to
irrigate their orchards. There was a terrible drought. People were hungry. My
roommate was
given enough money to buy food for himself. But he could not eat it and watch
children starve. He
gave his food away and lost forty pounds. Eventually he was so weakened
physically and
spiritually that he was brought home. I fixed him a meal just after he arrived and
he gorged on it as
though he had not eaten in a long time. His family was well off. His brother and
both parents were
doctors. They had a hard time relating to how he felt. It is easy to understand
how. We have
grown used to our abundance and do not realize how bloated and almost obscene
our wallowing
in those goods produced by ourselves and the rest of the world. We do not see the
contrast
between our waste of food and goods and the awful lack of those things in many
other countries.
This summer I met some friends for a birthday dinner at a restaurant in a
shopping mall. I got lost
while looking for the restaurant and wandered around in several shops. The
profusion of goods
overwhelmed me. I had the sensation that there was more to buy in that mall
than in all of Russia.
Of course, that is not true. Even though Russia is suffering from an economic
depression it is still a
modern European country. But it probably is not an exaggeration to say that you
can buy more
mass produced items in that mall than in at least a few small third world
countries.

We allow 80 to 90 percent of mankind to remain shamefully undeveloped and in

poverty. We
make token gestures. We spend three percent of our annual budget on foreign
aid. We make
loans. [Much of which we know will end up in the pockets of politicians]. We send
N.G.O`s,
Peace Corps Volunteers and Missionaries. We start projects to help small time
entrepreneurs to
start little businesses.

But in truth it is a drop in the bucket. This aid does not yield equity. In the long
run the world
economy just will not function with such gross disparity of the consumption of
the worlds
resources and technology. It is not a question of politics. It is not a debate
between left wing and
right wing philosophies. It is simply a question of how will we survive as a people.
We the human
race. Are not all the hungry children in my family in your family? Is it not simply
a matter of justice
and fairness? Must we not do all we can to correct this injustice? Must we not do
more than
promote our self interest, is there not an answer more profound than spreading
and promoting
globalization?

I have read a book entitled, The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L.
Friedman. He is the
foreign correspondent for the New York Times. He has gone all over the world
looking at the
trees. That is he has concerned himself with the economic plight of individual
countries. He spent
years doing this. He started seeing the forest and wrote this book Basically he
talks of
globalization and the onslaught of the electronic herd. Electronic herd refers to
the fact that trust
funds, individuals, banks and large corporations can now invest quickly in and
quickly withdraw
funds from any country in the world because of the Internet and electronic
banking and investing.
A rumor can destroy the worth of the currency of a country and bring a
government crashing
down in a matter of hours. He points out that no country with a McDonald`s
hamburger stand has
been at war with another country with a McDonald`s. He describes how the
Lexus plant in Japan
produces 300 Lexus sedans each day. 66 human beings and 310 robots make
them. He
describes the struggle in the Middle East about who owns which olive tree. He
points out those
olive trees, the traditions and unique culture of each country are also important.
He advocates a
balance between the two. He is very critical of Russia and other countries that tie
too much of
there net worth up in safety nets and welfare benefits. He points out that the
electronic herd will
not invest in such countries and as a result they become economically stunted as
compared to
other countries like Korea, for example. He criticizes many countries for not have
a stable legal
system that would enforce contracts made between themselves and between their
citizens and
foreign investors. He says the electronic herd favors internationally approved
accounting systems,
fair and open elections, full disclosure of finances by companies and government
agencies at every
level and most of all a system that is not protective of local industry but lets
market forces guide
the economy. He and the electronic herd favor no tariffs and absolutely free
trade. He feels that
America is the country that most epitomizes this ideal. And that as a result the
United States is the
greatest economic power that the world has ever seen. He does admit that
perhaps the United
States government does not do enough to bring the wonderful benefits of
unfettered capitalism
and free trade to the twenty percent of Americans who live in poverty and are ill
housed, ill
clothed, ill educated and lack proper medical care. He advocates job-training
programs; free
education and other self help solutions to this problem. But he feels that the
United States must not
spend too much on welfare. He feels that Sweden, France and other European
countries burden
themselves with too much of a safety net for the poor. He points out that the
electronic herd will
favor less welfare not more. He feels foreign capital is necessary for every
country`s development,
progress and economic health.

I have been deeply disturbed by this book because much of what he says is true.
And he came to
view the forest by first examining the trees. He applied the scientific method to
the investigation
and discovered the existence of a solution that seems to work.

Friedman is right when he says that one of the things needed by all third world
countries is honest
government and a fair tax system that is enforceable. However much more is
needed. The poverty
they suffer from would be alleviated if honest and concerned government raised
and spent taxes in
ways that benefit the majority of people. If there were adequate funds available,
they could go to
improving the economy of the country. Doctors, teachers and other state-
employed professionals
could be paid more. Loan programs, similar to those that help end the great
depression in the
United States could be instituted. Loans could be made to business both large
and small.
Programs to encourage quality in production could be started. Minimum
standards in the
production of goods for public consumption could be put in place. People would
want to buy
goods made at home rather than shun them as many do now. Programs to
encourage modern
agricultural practices could begin. Loans could be made to farmers. Many
countries could
become commodity exporters. The minimum wage could be raised to a level that
would allow a
worker to live with dignity. And all of this might be accomplished without
scrapping a welfare
system that is so beneficial to most people. The roads could be improved. The
railroads and other
transportation systems could be modernized and made efficient. Internationally
accepted
accounting standards could be imposed on banks and corporations. Workable
legal systems
could be brought about. Banks would be regulated as they are in America. They
would provide
sources of working capital for businesses. Of course, pensioners and persons
without a job would
have to be provided for. They too, should be able to live with dignity.

I think that Sweden is right and Thomas Friedman is wrong. The electronic herd
would invest in a
nations made economically healthy by adequate funding coupled with workable
reforms with out
imposing suffering upon the backs of the working people.

.Of course all of this envisions and honest government where bribes are not
substituted for rent
payments. But if the records were all out in the open and subject to the scrutiny
of a free press
then corruption of the system could be kept to a minimum.

I cannot but help wonder if we can really feel so smug about asking the rest of the
world to
emulate us. The lives of many of us is in many ways bankrupt. We, as a society,
reach out for all
that is shallow and trite. Money and financial success become ends in themselves.
For us time is
money rather than life. We give not a damn for the downtrodden. We impose the
most awful
working conditions on them. We ignore their cries for justice as long as there are
no Watts riots to
remind us that they are still with us. But worse than that our souls are dry. We do
not even know
that we are stunted in that way. We have deprived ourselves of the appreciation
of the awesome
beauty of an olive tree. Our culture glorifies Las Vegas and a singer named
Jackson who screams
out that love is just an illusion. The song means nothing and neither does he. He
is all show and
glitter and no substance whatever. We foster this awful culture onto the rest of
the world. And
because we seem so prosperous they gobble it up. To me this seems an awful
thing. But,
hopefully it is a temporary phenomenon. Perhaps the blare of Elvis Presley will
not replace
Beethoven. I suppose there is room in the world for both. American Jazz certainly
is a permanent
and valuable addition to the culture of the world. I must be more tolerant, I
suppose.

Many of the impoverished nations are rich in culture and traditions that have
taken centuries to
develop. This history must be preserved and relished. The olive trees of these
nations are worth
keeping. Beautiful old temples should not be torn down to make room for
McDonald`s
hamburger stands

But if the industrialized nations of the world do not give up their hold on the
world’s resources and
if they are not willing to share their wealth with the poorer countries then no
amount of reform can
stop the awful threat to us that will be dictated if we leave four-fifths of the
worlds population in
abject poverty. We must raise their standard of living. And this cannot be
accomplished if we do
not lower ours, at least temporarily.
We must allow others to come live with us even if it means that they will drive
down wages here.
The industrial nations must cease playing with a stacked deck. We should pay
more not less for
oil and other natural resources. We should make less profit. We should do
everything that we can
to build up the economies of the third world. A much larger percentage of our
budget must go to
foreign aid and international development. We must increase direct aid to
individuals and groups
of people within the impoverished nations by a thousand fold. Our world is in
trouble. We could
be at the edge of a disaster soon. A major crop failure at the same time say in the
United States,
Canada and Argentina could precipitate world starvation. Civilization as we know
it could fall.

We were confronted with the awful prospects of the fall of Europe into chaos at
the end of World
War II. We could and did afford to spend billions to bring economic health to that
part of the
world. We knew that we had to. And now those nations the other industrial
nations and we have
an opportunity to save the economically deprived peoples of the world from
falling into an abyss
that will destroy them and in time destroy us as well.

Would it not be advisable for the industrial nations to create a political entity,
organized in a way
similar to the way that NATO is, so that a way could be found to bring equity in
the distribution of
the world’s wealth and resources? Should our government not have a Secretary of
Wealth and
Resource Distribution to cooperate with this organization in doing just that?
It is far beyond the scope of this article for me to write a blueprint as to just how
to reorganize the
world’s means of production and to distribute the earth’s resources that belong to
all the people
on our planet. This result will not take place without a great deal of debate and
disagreement.
Many will argue that overpopulation because of religious beliefs and practices or
corrupt
governments are the cause of the poverty in this or that country. A way must and
will be found to
overcome these difficulties. It can be found. But, in truth, the fundamental cause
of poverty in
much of the world is due to the fact that large companies and state organizations
in the more
developed countries manipulate markets and play with stacked decks so that the
wealthier nations
accrue for their own benefit more goods and services than is fair or reasonable.
Those that control
the economies of the industrial nations have the ability to find a way to help the
poorer nations
develop. Our task is to motivate them to do so.

Perhaps there is a tactic that would help in the effort. If the boycott movement
ever got strong enough to bring the rich people that own and control these all
powerful corporations to the bargaining table, representatives of the movement
can insist that they instruct the corporate officers and politicians that they control
to bring pressure to have all the industrial nations enter into treaties that would
impose on all rich nations a ten percent tariff on all of the oil, minerals, produce,
products of cheap labor and other imports created by exploitive schemes. This
tariff would be then deposited with an agency of the United Nations who would
then distribute through its bureaucracy these proceeds directly to the people of
the downtrodden nations. A way must be found to bypass the politicians that
were installed by the rich in order to upgrade the infrastructure of these countries
and the well being of their populations.
As well, by treaty we could end all agricultural subsidies to farmers in the rich
nations so that farmers in the poor countries could compete in the world market.

Much of world hunger would be reduced by thus encouraging farmers in the

impoverished wold to make money so that they could support their families.
If boycott with vigor and if the wealthy and powerful go to their shopping centers
on Wednesday and see no cars in the parking lots, if they go out to dinner and
find the restaurants empty, if they are alone at the movies and places of
entertainment, if the New York Yankees play to an empty house, if it is easy to get
a lane at a bowling alley and, if you do not have to get a tee time at a golf course
our government will yield to the popular will and implement policies that will
raise the standard of living of all the peoples of the world and end hunger forever.
This is a small planet. We have all inherited its wonders, beauty and wealth
equally. We should not be greedy and hog more than our share of it’s riches by
clever political and economic manipulations. There are enough resources to
furnish a decent living wage and a good standard of living for all of us.

If we ate one-seventh less food their would be that much more food for the
hungry. And there
would be other side benefits. Those of us who are overweight would gradually
lower our set point
so that we would weigh less, be healthier, live longer and be more content and
happy. I have
observed Holy Wednesday for more than a year and I recommend it to you. As a
holy man once
said, "As you do unto these, do ye also unto me". And I would add, "Besides that
it will be good
for you and for your nation".

President Putin stood next to the Orthodox Archbishop at the celebration of

Victory day in
Russia. President Bush attends prayer breakfasts. Faith in a "Higher Power"
sustains AA
members. Allah, Christ, Buddha and Jehovah are worshipped and honored in all
of the nations of
the world. Religious belief or collective spirituality seems universal. I believe that
it is inevitable that
one hundred years from now or fifty thousand years from now if our species
survives that long,
spiritualism of some sort will be part of our lives. Man’s inclination to things
mystic and spiritual
could help in the struggle. Our religious houses could become champions of this
movement. Either
inside our outside organized religions this holy day could be fostered. This day
could come to be
observed by many in their present places of worship. And even for some reason
this is not
practical, so long as the practices were not conflict with a parishioner’s present
belief, many might
participate in the development of ceremonies and rituals that would help sustain
"Holy
Wednesday" outside the portals of their churches. Poetry and songs could be
written to support
the idea of celebrating this sacred day and the love of humanity that is behind it.
The keeping of
Wednesday holy could motivate the politicians and leaders to implement those
policies that could
cause the wealth of all the nations to be distributed equitably. We could be
bearers of justice and
there truly could be no reason for anyone to hate us.

I predict that in time all of this will come to pass.

Comments or suggestions about how to promote HOLY WEDNESDAY can be

sent to gerryjoesmith@hotmail.com

THIS ARTICLE IS NOT COPYRIGHTED. ANY PART OF IT OR ALL OF IT MAY

BE
COPIED AND PUBLISHED WITHOUT PAYING A FEE.
posted by Gerry Joe Smith | 6:43 PM
Greed
JUNE 11, 2004

SHAMELESS,CRUEL AND GREEDY

We are in the grasp of cruel and greedy women and men,

They own the giant corporations throughout America,
An in every country throughout the world without end.

Governments of industrial nations to their will bend,

So that they may rape and plunder the undeveloped,
And the bounty to the rich nations then shamelessly send.

This thing I know, all of the children, that must go hungry;

All that are ignorant, are sick and must drink foul water;
All of the downtrodden in the world are related to me.

In Nigeria and Indonesia men toil day long,

They barely survive on the dollar a day that they earn.
They grovel in huts, ignorance and bad health, Oh! That’s wrong.

In the Philippines, Central America, Vietnam, and Africa;

Energy, transportation, clean water and sanitation,
Are inadequate and so it is in South America.

We have a duty to protect those that are so helpless,

Some say it comes from God; some from natural evolution.
Honor requires we heed that duty no matter its source.

If we can not tear away these tentacles of greed,

From the throats of our children in our family,
Then we will all strangle because they are in such need.

Think not that their suffering next door to us will long abide.
Three-fourths hungry and one-fourth infected with consumerism,
Will collapse economies and order on every side.
Fast on Wednesday. Say to those in power Share all our wealth,
With all our kin. On that holy day, know pain and suffer.
Share the pangs of hunger of children; so that all know health.

posted by Gerry Joe Smith | 4:22 PM