21 - Northern Lifestyles

One of the common criticisms raised by North Americans and Europeans about Developing Countries is that they don’t have effective population controls, that their birth-rates are too high, resulting in over-population which–it could be argued–is a root cause of poverty. Analysts in developing countries, on the other hand, point out that the real problem isn’t found in population figures, but rather in patterns of consumption. These are two very different ways of looking at the issue of resource distribution.

It is difficult to argue with the proposition that the planet is over populated. And developing countries are aware of the problem. China, for example, which is the world’s most populous country, has instituted its famous (or “infamous”) “one child” policy in an attempt to control its own population growth.

It is not alone in seeking ways to control population. And, in fact, in most nations where there has been an improvement in child health and a reduction in infant mortality rates, the birthrates have naturally started to fall.

Still, the point that Southern analysts make needs to be considered and not dismissed out of hand. Is the root cause of poverty over-population or resource consumption?

The average North American consumes thirty times what someone in India consumes each year. The United States, which only has 5% of the world’s people, consumes about one third of all global resources and also produces about half of the world’s annual hazardous waste. North Americans–Canadians and the citizens of the US–consume more than 30% of the world’s energy and still resist serious efforts at conservation.

Essentially, the life-style enjoyed by residents of the world’s rich nations–the life-style many of residents of the North are not even satisfied with–has been purchased at the expense of the world’s poorer nations. And this may be one of the greatest threats to the world’s security today.

But when the Prime Minister of Canada made similar remarks in his televised year-end interview in 2001, a number of commentators in the United States took offense. Jean Chrétien was speaking about the factors which he believed had led to the growth of global terrorism, including the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And to the US commentators, it sounded as if he were blaming the victims. He wasn’t, of course, but it is understandable why it would be hard for many Americans to understand that.

His point was that in a world with the type of glaring disparities as we see around us today, it is inevitable that people will become resentful if they feel excluded from access to what they might consider their fair share of the world’s wealth. Conversely, those who have worked to acquire a certain lifestyle will become protective of what they believe is their due.

It is almost impossible for someone living in Canada or the US to believe that the lifestyle they have achieved can be considered anything other than their right. In such a situation, they may dismiss the feelings of other individuals (even individuals within those countries) as nothing more than envy.

But what looks like envy from one perspective may look like the desire for justice from another.