wfn.org | U.N. panel discusses social pitfalls of free market

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 17, 1999	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-31-32-71B{090}

NOTE: The spelling of Hellen Wangusa's name is correct.

UNITED NATIONS (UMNS) - Without attention to social values, a global free
market economy merely widens the gap between rich and poor.

That was a point expressed during a Feb. 16 panel presentation on "Market as
Ideology: Social Impacts" at a meeting of the U.N. Commission for Social
Development. The panel was organized by an ecumenical delegation, which
included representatives of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries,
United Methodist Board of Church and Society, World Council of Churches and
Lutheran World Federation, as well as Catholics, Quakers and Greek Orthodox.

Members of the National Council of Churches' executive board attended in the
audience.

Cynthia Moe-Loebda, a doctoral candidate in Christian social ethics at Union
Theological Seminary in New York, detailed several "myths" about the "gospel
of free trade and investment." Among those myths, she said, are that free
markets promote democracy; that corporate expansion is inevitable; that
human beings are motivated by individual self-interest rather than what is
best for the community at large; and that aspects of life with no monetary
worth have no value.

The free market system does not solve social problems, she declared.
Christians instead must promote a "just and moral economy of life," where
corporations are held accountable for the social impact of their business
and "the common good is placed before the individual interest of the rich."

The Rev. Jorge Domingues, a Methodist from Brazil and a Board of Global
Ministries executive, discussed the effects of market ideology on young
people. The assumption by free market enthusiasts that the wealth "will
trickle down to the less fortunate" is wrong, he said. The realities of
child labor and sexual exploitation of the young show that poor youth have
little economic choice.

"Young people also are faced with the reality of the destruction of cultural
diversity in our society," he added, referring to the loss of indigenous
lands and ways of life.

The Asian economic crisis has demonstrated the increasing gap between rich
and poor in a variety of ways, Domingues said. In India, the difference in
wages paid to men and women has increased. In Pakistan, industrialization
has increased job opportunities in cities, but it has meant a loss of land
and jobs for the largely rural population. In the Philippines, laws
protecting the rights of peasants "turned out to be meaningless in order to
accommodate free market principles."

But there are groups working on economic alternatives, according to
Domingues. He cited as an example the "Computers for Everyone" campaign
begun five years ago in Brazil by a group of students and professors. The
campaign organized classes in poor neighborhoods through which it provided
both skills training and information on citizens' rights.

The youth that participated "are the same young people who would be involved
in drug trafficking if they didn't have the opportunity," he said. The
campaign now operates in eight states in Brazil and will be initiated in
Peru and the Philippines.

Hellen Wangusa, coordinator of the African Women's Policy Network in
Kampala, Uganda, pointed to a growing network of local initiatives for
education, health and other social concerns. She also mentioned that African
women have made progress in talking to the World Bank.

"We can get the (economic) kings to listen," she added in response to a
question. "We can speak their language. We can get them to speak our
language."   

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