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Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century without knowing how to read or write, one would think that with the technology available today there would be less illiteracy or poverty in the world. According to the Global Issues Organization, over three billion people, almost half the population in the world lives on less than $2.50 a day.

But the governments of powerful countries are not interested in alleviating poverty or illiteracy, the wealthy countries are more interested in producing more products in a cheaper way to sell more products globally and have more money to buy weapons and military equipment.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have cut back on health, education and vital social services around the world, the result of these structural adjustments are the major cause of poverty in the world.

In the name of globalization, developing nations are required to open their economies to compete with more powerful and industrialized countries, in order to do so, poor countries have to lower their standards, reduce wages and cheaper their resources to be present in the economic global scene.

But poverty is not only present in developing countries, inequity exists even in rich countries, but it seems economic and political policies are made to benefit the wealthy and impoverish the poor even more.

Poverty is a silent killer; a child dies every second and most of them because of poverty, and lack of health resources. The World Health Assembly passed a resolution saying that nutrition plays a major role in AIDS, but the poor don't know how to read, and they most certainly would benefit more if the millions spend in advertisement campaigns would be to feed them properly.

I billion children live in poverty, less than one percent of what it was spend in weapons would have put every child in school before 2000 and it didn't happen.

But as much as technology can go where the human eye can't, reach where the human hand can't, technology can't act by itself, and as long as the human mind places greed before compassion, self advancement before responsibility, power before honor, the poor will remain poor and the percentage will grow and grow while the few in charge of decision making, will increase in power and will one day rule an empty world.

We have today the means to end poverty in remote and under civilized areas, end the abuse and killings in places like Darfur, we have the technology to take medical treatment and water to more than a billion

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