Mark Brown, director of the United Nations Development Programme, gave an inspiring talk at the Kennedy School of Government on the potentials and powers of the people to motivate change in governance. Emphasizing the creation of an economically balanced global community, he explained how resource distribution is vital to the prosperity and peace of the world. “Global poverty brings instability,” he said, “and economic inequality breeds political insecurity.” Brown is confident, however, that people are capable of closing the gap on the economic inequalities they endure.
With two-thirds of the world’s population living on less than $15,000 a year, Brown argued that this group is becoming the major market where economic spending and population growth is going to take place. “Markets are shaped by responding to new threats but also to new opportunities,” he said. The size of this group, when organized, will empower poor people and give them an edge for improving their situation. By using international economic markets and ethical standards to police governments, people will use their poverty as a political tool to instigate change.
The global market and ethical base from which governments rank and compare themselves is the foundation of the UNDP. Though on an anthropological level it is difficult to contrive of a set standard by which the world should operate, Brown warned against a “tentative cultural relativism,” meaning he does not think that specific cultural disparities should prohibit the development and dignity of a universal standard on human and environmental rights. “Everyone wants freedom, though it has different shapes in different cultures,” he said.
Along with this shift in market power from the upper classes to the lower classes, Brown is optimistic that people are becoming more globally conscious, and more globally sympathetic. Youth who are entering the career world are of what he calls a “global generation;” they are more aware of global impacts of their work and feel a greater ethical responsibility and accountability for their work on an international scale. He believes the world on the cusp of fundamental change in how we treat global issues.
While Brown’s message is hopeful, the reality of change often seems a long way off. Many of the “global generation” are educated and concerned about global matters, but it is difficult to gauge whether or not people will act with a sense of urgency to the problems of the world. The United Nations can only do so much to moderate international government action. This puts more pressure on individuals to hold themselves accountable for global issues, perhaps by supporting NGOs and/or becoming politically active. Hope for the world of future generations, after all the governmental jargon, comes down to faith in humankind to care and fight for its survival.
Elizabeth Mann is a regional editor at Cultural Survival.
