End to Poverty? -- March 13, 2005
-- A weekly feature on This Week.
"The End of Poverty" is the title of a provocative new book by the economist Jeffrey Sachs.
Jeffrey Sachs: "Poverty as we consider it in the United States is when people are too poor to be part of the mainstream. But extreme poverty on the planet is when people don't even have the basic means to stay alive.
"There are still about a billion people that are struggling for survival every day, extreme poverty that is so unrelenting that it means chronic hunger, it means disease, and it means early death.
"That kind of extreme poverty afflicts about one sixth of the planet.
"The amazing thing is that we live in an age of such scientific and technical know-how, and in an age when prosperity is spread to so many places that we can really envision the end of extreme poverty within our generation by the year 2025.
"This can be done through the practical steps of helping the poorest of the poor to be empowered to grow more food, to be healthy, for the children to grow up with the proper education, and to have the basic means to be productive members of the world economy.
"The rich countries have said that they would give seven cents out of every $100 of their income, just that little amount, 0.7 percent, seven cents out of $100, to the poorest places on the planet to help them grow more food, have safe drinking water, have the children in school, be able to fight the diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria. If we do that, we will succeed.
"We haven't done it yet. I think we will do it because it really is the bargain of the planet. It's the bargain of the century."
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno:
Leno: And the head of OPEC said today they are concerned about high oil prices -- not concerned enough to lower them, just concerned about high prices. In fact, gas is so expensive now, today I saw Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds carrying their cars.
Real Time with Bill Maher:
Maher: : [Michael Jackson] is apparently on suicide watch now. … I don't blame him for being depressed. The accuser was on the stand yesterday, and by all accounts he is very believable and very credible -- until he started talking about how Social Security was going bankrupt.
The Daily Show with John Stewart:
Stewart: John Bolton, seen here [pictured with bushy white mustache] having just polished off an enormous glass of milk, is the White House's choice for the U.N. and he immediately said in a diplomatic tone:
John Bolton, nominee as U.S. ambassador to United Nations [on tape]: Close cooperation, and the time-honored tradition of frank communication is central to achieving our mutually held objectives.
Stewart: Yes, frank communication. Like this communique from 1994:
Bolton quote [written on screen]: The U.N. building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.
Stewart: The top 10 floors of the U.N.? That's Oman through Zambia, and the revolving restaurant.
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