2 of 10

Write now Article Tools

The instruments for alleviating world poverty are and always have been based on technology. Whether societies are interested in deploying these instruments is entirely a different and much more complex question. The Romans knew of water mills but did not bother exploiting them because slave labour was so cheap and they themselves despised labour as servile. Today rich western societies use the cheap labour of third world countries to sustain their comfortable lifestyles. One can be indignant about this but the reality is we all contrive to sustain our standard of living and support social structures that protects our way of life.

In his book The Culture of Contentment John Kenneth Galbraith writes: "the first and most general expression of the contented majority is its affirmation that those who compose it are receiving their just deserts. ... Good fortune being earned or the reward of merit, there is no equitable justification for any action that impairs it." The fear, at the heart of western society, is that, if world poverty is to be seriously addressed, sacrifices will have to be made.

If world poverty threatens the lifestyles of the rich and powerful, western society will act to protect the status quo and technology will be the instrument for finding solutions. One only has to look at the willingness to spend billions on military technology to counter threats, real and imagined, to western society. There is an equal willingness to invest heavily in medical research and health care, communications and information technology, all in the interests of protecting the "contented majority" of western society.

Of course all technological developments have negative aspects. With the advances of technology people lose their jobs and specialist skills become irrelevant. Even within advanced societies technology creates pockets of disadvantage and poverty, but there is a general acceptance that technological advances ultimately sustain competitiveness and advantage for the majority in those societies that control it and democracy sustains that delicate moral balance between contentment and inequality.

There is no quick fix to world poverty. Moral indignation may make us feel better but who amongst us is prepared to jeopardise our own comforts in the interests of equality. Witness the most recent breakdown in the World Trade talks where the USA and India clashed over tariffs to protect the farmers of poor countries. The USA could not agree to India's proposal because they felt it would be unfair to their own farmers. It is logical that they would take this stance because, in a democracy, a government will simply reflect the view of the electorate, which happens to be that contented majority who vote.

Western society would like to see the end of dire poverty if only to avoid the accusatory finger of future generations. We optimistically wait for a magic solution that will eliminate the sense of guilt we feel when confronted, as we are daily, by the awful images of massive starvation and death in third world countries. It is to technology we look for that magic solution: a solution that will resolve the problem of world poverty without diminishing our own standard of living. Whether this is possible I don't know; no one does. But if the finances and resolve, with which nations engage in war at all levels, were directed towards technological research to resolve world poverty there might be a basis for optimism.

Learn more about this author, Dermot Mccabe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Is technology the key to alleviating world poverty??
We want to hear your view. Write now!