We need real change, not just new year wishes

As we bid 2009 farewell and prepare to receive 2010, we turn yet another page in history to open a new, more optimistic chapter.

People all over the world look forward to the new year and hope it will bring some relief from the pain they suffered the year before.

The events of 2009 shook the entire world and we lost many prominent figures, including politicians, economists, socialites and entertainers, yet life always goes on.

The year's events make it a must to discuss openly the problems facing humanity, starting with the increase in poverty all over the world, and especially in the Arab world, where 140 million people live below the poverty line.

How could this be possible in a region that has the world's biggest oil reserves, and annual revenues of trillions of dollars, and where many capitalists occupy top positions among the world's wealthiest people?

Hungry masses

If this was the case in the Arab world, the situation is even worse in other developing countries, where the number of hungry people exceeded 1.2 billion people.

There are also 200 million unemployed people, with millions joining the unemployment list every month.

Moreover, advanced countries could not avoid this problem, and unemployment rates increased in Europe and America as a result of the global financial crisis.

Even the United States, which controls the world's economies and policies and sends armies to discipline the regimes of other countries, was not spared from these crises.

These figures stand as evidence of the randomness in planning and the fact that providing a decent life for people is just a slogan, like justice, freedom and human dignity, which are bandied about for the media's benefit.

This has caused the media to lose credibility among the hungry and unemployed people.

To make things worse, the lives of wealth and prosperity that only a few people enjoy are conveyed by the media to those looking for their daily bread in trash cans.

Two thousand and nine was a year of devastating crises that stormed both advanced and developing countries and left the population of the world separated into two classes, leading to the disappearance of the middle class — the safety valve of society.

The current situation is not normal and it is unwise for anyone to believe that they will escape the repercussions, because it is just like a volcano that may erupt at any minute.

The increasing unemployment rates in the US and European countries are evidence that capitalist ideologies have not taken into consideration the importance of social balance.

Perhaps the experience of Western countries, especially after the Second World War, highlighted the importance of a state of prosperity.

Over many decades, social theories have played an important role in creating balance, although some have said that the age of ideology is over.

As the world bids 2009 farewell, it is a must to reconsider the situation logically and accurately, because a hungry man has nothing to lose except his hunger and humiliation, whereas those who continue to ignore his basic needs, such as food, have a lot more to lose if they continue to shrug him off.

The people of Palestine, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen, as well as other countries, have realised that their dreams have been shattered by those who do not care for their concerns or ambitions.

Hence, these people have resorted to supernatural theories in their search for a saviour, whereas logical and humane thoughts are the way to make the world receive the new year with a new spirit that calls for real peace among all people and all religions, because they provide at least a minimum amount of social justice between sectors of the society.

This is one of the rights that all international treaties have called for, and it is possible to achieve, if the superpowers wish to do so.

Yet, it is obvious that they do not want to, and this makes people wonder where these rights have gone.

One cannot help but wonder why the people of Gaza still sleep in tents a year after Israel destroyed their homes around this time last year.

Basic needs

When the world was celebrating the new year, the people of Gaza were busy looking for shelter, even if it was a tent, and the children were looking for schools, even if they were like 19th century schools with no classrooms or desks.

Apparently, living in the 19th century was better than living now, in the 21st century, for some people, who have no chance to experience a good life.

The concerns of human beings know no limits, and all people want is a candle to light their way towards a good life.

The world will soon light the candle of the new year, but change does not happen by lighting a new candle. It requires the will of decision makers, now that sweet words have lost their meaning.

What people of the world need is real change, not just new year wishes.

Dr Mohammad Abdullah Al Mutawa is a professor of sociology at UAE University in Al Ain.