Stop the world,

Stop the world,
I want to get off!

The article on the power of corporations toward good
governance (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 18) by Yanuar Nugroho
was highly informative in many respects. Profit, of course, has
always been the main objective of business, as even the street
vendor knows that cash in must exceed cash out, otherwise it's
curtains.

With the profits, obviously comes the power, and that is the
area where wisdom is severely lacking. The mentality of greed has
unfortunately, but understandably, spiraled downwards to the
grass roots, where it is more recognizable as survival, which in
reality is the only option open to the poor.

No matter how many world conferences there are (and they cost
an absolute fortune on their own) the people who really matter
are simply not prepared to relinquish what they have. The
inequalities that exist in the world have been heading in one
direction for years, with most (if not all) statistics indicating
that the divide is getting wider.

When I was young there used to be a saying that it was better
to give than to receive, but today the opposite applies. Speaking
as a Martian and looking down on this planet I see nothing but
hands held out, with 10 percent full of money and the other 90
percent begging for it. The trouble is that the merry-go-round is
out of control, spinning so fast that everyone is seemingly
trapped and thus unable to change their ways. The do-gooders are
waving their arms in absolute desperation, with the rich waving
back as does royalty.

"Stop the world, I want to get off!" comes a cry from someone
at the back, but as he stands, so the momentum spins him off to
his death. There is silence for a while, when suddenly a lone
voice is heard saying that it's OK, as now there is more food for
the rest of us. This proves that the only thing on this planet
that remains forever cheap is life itself.

DAVID WALLIS

Medan