Global Underdevelopment: Montana and the Third World

 

 The International Capitalist Economy

Development decisions, whether made by public administrators in Montana or in the Third World are presently made within the parameters allowed for by the international capitalist economy.  The structure of this economy allows for absentee land owners, transnational processors and their creditors to exploit resources and labor on a global scale.  Local people who produce actual wealth with their labor are forced into price competition with workers half way around the globe and are left in poverty by those who control the means of production, processing and marketing of the goods they produce.

Poverty and Deforestation: Consequences of Export-led Development: A Philippines Case Study

Environmental Studies 594-01: Tropical Rainforests                 by Dean Henderson               Fall-1989       

 Poverty is the biggest drain on our natural resources.  You cannot separate sustainable development from social equity- Maximo Kalaw, President of the Haribon foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources in the Philippines

Intertwined with the social crisis is a crisis that has emerged directly from man’s exploitation of the planet- Murray Bookchin, The Concept of Social Ecology

The Philippines ranks 14th in terms of world food production, with just a fraction of the global population living on its soils.  Yet, according to conservative World Bank statistics, 75% of its children are malnourished and 65% of all Filipinos live below the poverty line, 30 million of whom live in “absolute poverty”, not even able to satisfy basic needs.

Urbanization is a growing trend.  The populations of Davao and Cebu, the second and third largest cities in the Philippines, respectively, are approaching one million.  And well over 4 million people have found their way into Manila, where 35% of all families are illegal squatters. (Chapman, 26)  Many live on Smoky Mountain, the notorious garbage dump on Manila’s East side, awaiting the arrival of the next truck.