Summary of Jeffrey Sachs' ideas on SDGs

 

Jeffrey Sachs in his work on A New American Foreign Policy: beyond American Exceptionalism (2017)  gives his ideas on Sustainable development . 

It is estimated by Forbes Magazine in 2018 that a mere 2,208 individuals in the world   had 9.1 trillion dollars in wealth. Global peace Index (2017) states that the global costs of violence including   military and security outlays, the costs of armed conflicts and interpersonal violence totaled around 14 trillion dollars . The world tax havens such as the Cayman islands and the Virgin islands contained  20 trillion dollars of offshore deposits which is untaxed income.

To achieve the SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement , every govt. has to focus on quality health and education for all, sustainable land-use management, decent jobs and infrastructure( including  safe water, sanitation, electrification, transport and communications ) decarbonizing the energy system (Zero carbon energy by 2050) and good governance ( including honesty ,rule of law, fairness, competence, and transparency ) .  

In 2017, Sustainable Development Goals Index, America is ranked 42nd out of 157 countries and 30^th out of 35 high-income OECD Countries. Jeffrey Sachs mentions that the Koch Brothers spends a lot of money to prevent action on global warming but asks customers to buy its products. (212) As a result of inequality and weak sustainability, America ranks life -expectancy 25th out of 35  high -income countries and suffers from raising clinical depression, drug addiction, trust deficit in public institutions and chronic violence and homicides .

Th leading MNCs such as  General Electric, Pepsi , Walmart, IBM , Walt Disney, GM etc. have to come forward under the penalty of losing customers.

The obstacles to SDG s are, the corporate lobbies, the corrupt  wealthy and irresponsible politicians and governments without practical plans. The global  way out is adoption of these goals by  Fossil fuel companies ,the wealthy individuals, the common people to mobilize funds for the poor nations, making polluters to pay compensation to victims, using S&T to accelerate SDGs. America needs to frame a new policy .

Jeffrey Sachs shows ten priorities for true national security. They are : Living by the UN Charter ,recommitment to the SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement, raising the UN budget, ratification of the pending UN treaties related to women cooperation on new technologies,  , the disabled, biodiversity , ICC etc., regaining momentum on nuclear disarmament, regional solutions to the Middle East, ending the Covert operations by the CIA, Saving money through less military budget and spending it on civilian programmes and  on the Poorest countries and celebrating cultural and ethnic diversity which is true American Exceptionalism. The famous economist and Columbia university Professor  Jeffery Sachs ends his book by giving a call , “Let us therefore enter the Age of Sustainable Development with hope, energy, and determination.” (219) 

Prof. JEFFREY D. SACHS OPPOSES AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

 

There are four parts in Jeffrey Sachs' book, A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism . the first part  is titled, "U.S. Exceptionalism In A Changing World , the second part is, "America’s Wars" ; third part refers to "Foreign Economic Statecraft" and part four is titled, "Renewing American Diplomacy."

In the first part , Sachs points out that the basic challenge before the county is to prevent it from unnecessary wars, raising military budget , affecting the world  trading system and environment through squandering our resources and focus. He identifies three camps having different views about America’s place in the world. The first group called ‘exceptionalists’ gun for  global dominance through military superiority in the name of stability. Trump’s America first ideology is another form of exceptionalism with a mixture of racism, xenophobia and protectionism.

The second camp ‘realists’ argue for realistic balance of power through peace based on strength and advocate arms race for the purpose.

The third group ‘Internationalists’ which includes the writer want global cooperation to avoid war and arms race and to take advantage of technological revolution to boost economic growth and overcome ills such as global warming, mass migration and emerging diseases. This group believes that American exceptionalism is a dangerous illusion and balance of power relish is pessimistic.

In relations with China, both exceptionalists and realists want more investment on military build-up for the sake of dominance or balance of power but the internationalists argue diplomatic cooperation can release resource for education. Technology, renewable sources of energy and infrastructure.

While Kennedy’s emphasis on peace has led to the partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)  and  later to the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty  ( 1968) while aiding Ukraine through deployment of the missile systems by the NATO followed America’ unilateral with drawl from the U.S. – Soviet Anti- Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.    

Jeffrey thinks that American exceptionalism is a throw Back to the days the second world war when the us dominated the global economy , military and civilian technology. Though the U.S.  has many bases around the world, it is not able to usher in peace or gain the expected political outcomes. Another basic challenge is the less possibility of solving the problems such as global warming , new diseases, growth of innovative technology in case of arms race between China and America. The internationalists’ camp sees exceptionalism as outdated and counterproductive and wants reconsideration of exceptionalism which has been the main principle of American Identity for centuries.

The second chapter “Exceptionalism as The  Civic Religion’ tells about how America has been addicted to exaggerated self-image and  the Protestant settlers from Europe fought against unimaginable difficulties to fight against nature, indigenous people and the  imperial governments back in Europe. Jeffrey Sachs writes as follows :

 At every turn , they called on Providence for their salvation, and at each victory , they gave credit to the Lord for supporting his new chosen people. America’s success became divine success. America’s strength became the proof of its divine mission in this world. (22)

 It has gone on the expansionist project  in the footsteps of  Britain . in 1898, it fought against Spain to ‘liberate’ its colonies. But after more than a century , Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines still show the scars of U.S. intervention .Jeffrey Sachs refers to John Coatsworth ‘s documentation on American intervention in the rest of the world and writes ;

These are violent , extra-constitutional overthrows of foreign governments by the United States through a variety of means including wars, coups, assassinations, electoral manipulations, acts of provocation , and manufactured protests and mass unrest. (24)

America entered two World Wars at the end  and emerged as unrivalled power by 1950 through science and technological  innovations during the war period  not withstanding the rising prominence of the Soviet Union. Theologian Niebuhr warned of the dangers of American pride.   America has many global institutions such as the UNO,  IMF, World Bank and strengthened its security and intelligence agencies.

The U.S. has maintained three faces-public face through UN agencies and alliances like the NATO, the second face through overt warfare and covert means to swing the newly independent countries in its favour and the third face is over throw in unfavourable regimes to its interests in cases such as Guatemala. The exceptionalists had hold over American foreign policy and Internationalists lost. American  interventions in Asian countries such as Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia in 1950’s, Central America in  1980’s and  Africa in 1980’s and 90’s , the Balkans in the 1990’s  or the Middle East since 1970  are known. But Americans themselves are not much aware of Saudi- America role in Syrian war which killed many lakhs  and displaced millions as the Press didn’t cover the covert operations.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US began intervention in many countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia etc. Jeffrey Sachs states that American exceptionalism has led the country into endless wars when it needed to adopt Rooseveltian Internationalist position.

 He sees Trump’s ‘’America First’ policy as a new and vulgar strain of exceptionalism. This has different strains of naked nationalism,  racism against ‘Mexican rapists”, “Muslim Terrorists” and countries like Haiti and African described by him as   ‘’shithole ‘’ countries and economic populism( A policy of corporatism)  which has benefited the rich more than the poor increasing the budget deficit and inflation.

Jeffrey Sachs thinks that the remedies for America’s security and economic needs lie not in hating foreigners,  increasing arms race , cutting corporate taxes or increasing budget deficit but in global cooperation, increasing investment sin education and health care, environmental protection , more help for the poor by raising corporate taxes and decreasing bloated military budget.

In the third chapter titled, The era of global convergence, Jeffrey Sachs points out that in the last 125 years , the North Atlantic region comprising of Western Europe and the U.S. has led the world economy and now  the end of its domination is showing the symptoms of the passing world order. The recovery of Japan after the WAR, the rise of Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea ), the market reform sin China and Eastern Europe breaking away from The Soviet camp , the collapse of the Soviet union in1992,  the U.S. exceptionalists thought that history ended  in their favour forever.  But   the rise of Asia, particularly China  has been going on education, technology and health care and investments.  Based on historian Angus Maddison’s estimations, Sachs argues that the world is going to see domination of no single country or region in economy, technology or population. This necessitates rethinking on the part of the exceptionalism in its foreign policy by America. He writes that “ we should move past the age of empires, decolonization, and cold wars. The world is arriving at the “equality of courage and force” long ago foreseen by Adam Smith – but unless we adopt a new foreign  policy , we will find that the world has left us behind as we stubbornly insist on going alone.”  (54)

In the beginning, the trade and technological relations were more close in wheat belt in Eurasia which existed for around 70 million years and home to  two thirds of humanity for two thousand years. The technological dynamism which flowed between500AD to  1500 AD reversed after 1800. Europe dominated Asia after industrialization and post 1947, India and China developed rapidly. China and India registered  growth rates of  9.6 percent  and 6.3  percent respectively  in their  GDP   during 1980-2016. In the same period China has seen an increase of 28 times in its cumulative growth and India achieved 9 times. Between 1950- 2000, the US led the world economy . Gradually the  relations between Europe and Asia grew more close. China’s ‘One Belt, One Road ‘, AIIB( Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ), GEIDCO ( Global Energy Interconnection Corporation and Development) have brought Europe and China closer while Trump  banked on ‘’America First’’ and opposed global trade.

Jeffrey Sachs also writes that America helped Poland and other East European countries but turned down Russian request for help from Gorbachev and later Yeltsin  in integrating with Europe  and saw it as a continuing enemy from cold war mindset.  Moreover, President George bush’s offer to include Georgia and Ukraine proved the last straw. In the Middle East , American attempts to regime change in Iraq, Libya, Syria became a red herring to Russia. While America thought that Putin was trying got recreate Russian Empire, Putin thought that America was intent on    military dominance over Russia. To Jeffrey, economic  cooperation  and demilitarization could benefit Europe, Russia, China and India and American exceptionalism needs to give way to a new foreign policy with sustainable development at heart and deaddiction from unnecessary wars.

THE SOLITARY VOYAGE BY Ravindranath Jandhyala

 

PRAYER TO NATURE 

 

The day evaporates

Followed by night melting 

Like hope and despair

Thoughts are limping

Furtive pain is irritating! 

Trees are filched of fruits

Animals are stolen of life

Humans are robbed of zest!

But the  Sun rises daily

Like  hope immortal

Amidst  disease and death

Pray nature

To  forgive human folly!

 

***

TEARS FOR DREAMERS!

 

 

When I think of them

I cannot sleep

They lost freedom  

 For a dream!

When I think of them

No tears!

Flowers of freedom   nipped

    In the bud !

***

FAITH FOR BETTER TOMORROW 

Every morning

Or  evening

I trotted  to feed

 The hungry dogs

 Biscuits or slices of bread

In  a brown bag in hand!

  And wished a better morrow  

for the starving!

 

 POETRY AS FRESH WIND

Some days

Poetry does not stir

Or rustles slowly

Like leaves of trees!

 

Poem lurks  

In our depths

To thrill us   

Like fresh  wind

Wafting  suddenly !  

 

***

 LIKE A LEOPARD!

Fear not invisible foes

Leaving visible enemies

Hunger Persecution pain

Are claiming our beings!

Imagining our end

Ignoring our  path

 Caught  in doubts

We cannot cherish ideals!

 

Defying  death

disease

Smiling all along

Move  warily  

 Like a Leopard !

 

***

AWAITING TRAIN !

Poets are commuters 

On railway platform!

   Keen to listen to    

Announcements

of their train

Of thoughts!

 

If journey delayed

They use  time 

To observe and  

Think well!

 

REMEDY

The remedy must be swift to

Improve your immunity

Prove your humanity

Never  stigmatize the victims

As it is no fault of theirs!

Alone  also

You can thrive 

By being less greedy

                                                                     And helping the needy!

                                                                                   ***

                                                                       CYNICAL AGE!

 

I wonder

It's all the same

Falling from a thunder

Or a thoughtless blunder!

 

Believing in goodness of human

The Anguish of calf

Awaiting the butcher's knife

With  teary eyes!

 

A human

   Buried in mass graves of  lies

In age of cynicism

When a microbe

                                                                        Mars the entire globe!

                                      

                                                   WHO CAUSED CHAOS?

                                                   

                                                    It   is war of humans against disease

Who  are accountable?

 

Is it the poor

Or the stinking rich

Who mined gold excessively?

 

When nature turns

Mahakali

And shows its fiery tongue

Who is accountable?

Is it you or me

Or the  lone Super power

That refused to reduce its  carbon emissions?

 

When you see

Billions  spent

In war against disease

Question

How did they ruin  the earth

To gain  wealth

Minus   an iota of guilt?

 No  masks   or ventilators,

Didn’t they allot peanuts  for public health ?

 

When forests burned

Rivers  polluted

Air got poisoned

Now

When nature is wiping out humans

As we kill small ants while mopping our floors

Ask…

Who caused it ?

 

***

THE JUDGE !

 

Darkness is  chasing

Clouds hovering over humans grumbling

Men  torturing  exploiting expelling the wretched

Nature has opened its third eye

Civilization fumbled crumbled and incinerated

Man is neither  a Phoenix nor a tree to relive

His account self- tampered

He seeks clemency in vain!

Nature throws  its bloody  axe !

 

LONGWALKERS!

 

We walked a long way

From feverish youth

Fighting for justice and equality

Sleeping or not sleeping

Eating or not eating

Meeting and walking  on lonely roads

Night and day

Then came middle age

Full of tensions  and pretensions

The destiny has eluded us

Suddenly a devil before us

Opening its mouth

We brandished 

Our weapons of criticism

We are  long walkers indefatigable!

 

***

ANOTHER DAWN!

 

Covid fangs

War drums

Dance of death

Suicide by the old

Unemployed futures

Murder for lust or money

In the evening

Gathers darkness

Sleep lulls the frenzied and the tired  !

Then

Another day dawns!

***

MUSTER COMPASSION !

 

Terrific fear

It kicked humanity to the  margins

 Erected barriers among all!

Against the unseen enemy

For decades or centuries

Silenced were all

By blind devotion!

 

Gone the beauty of

Human touch and solidarity

In the face of  greed!

Remember only those

Who nurtured humanity

 By  will  and selflessness!

 

***

MEND OR END !

Seen life for more than five decades

Our shadows are not long

Since nothing is permanent

 

We already damaged nature

Spurned history

fattened the fools

flattened the sane!

Nothing is new

Except in name and age

The earth has seen many disasters

Its fiercest and latest  disaster is us

Remaining rigid 

We bargain over price of life

Dignified life is rare!

 

Time for mending our beings    

Or ending our ignominious innings!

 

 

THE AXIS

 

Earlier it was

a joy

Excitement

Sharing lively moments

To call friends!

Now

Worries

Tedious news

Egoistic  views

The earth is rotating

On the axis of vexation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE FEMME FATALE !  

 

People are embracing her

From fourth floor of a hospital

In their own houses

Under a tree

By wayside

In old autos

On bikes

In Garbage vans

In ambulances

On burial grounds

People are embracing her

Everywhere

Not out of love

Not out of lust

Only in desperation

Never was life so asphyxiating!

Never was death so macabre !

 

*** 

AWAKENING

 

Folks!

Never trust the vested interests

Who promise heaven and

Throw you into a  hell !

Once in five years

They need your nod for power

They tantalize you

With promises galore!

 

You are real rulers

Do not   elect those

Who trod on you

And shed tears in vain!

 

 

Revive

Love for life of liberty

And avoid death sans dignity!

 ***

  

NOT ECONOMICS?

 

You don't cry hoarse

When the  elite grab wealth

You don't cry foul

When  the eye of justice is gouged

You don't find fault

When defaulters who  take refuge abroad

You don't point a finger

When tongue of an innocent lass is chopped off  and her life snuffed out

You don't find it amiss

When artisans and farmers starve or eat on roads

You don't lift a finger

When leaders refuse to name black money holders

You don't find any objection

When high cost robs quality of education or health

You don't criticize

When folks are killed for eating different

You never find it absurd

When a few get hundreds of crores as annual income

When millions remain jobless

But when common people are given freebies even in pandemic

You say it's not economics!

 ***

 

UNDERSTANDING LIFE

 

 Night

Pitch dark

Light

Broad day light

Hours pass like a snail

Days like earthworm

Months move like a cockroach!

Disease like history  repeats itself

Nothing changed except numbers of folks

And names of diseases

Humanity bows before  fear

Never seek the  meaning of life

As it doesn’t reveal 

When you demand it

Comprehend its silence

Violence and ambivalence

And life is a bliss rare !

 

 ***

   

POSTPONEMENT 

 

He postponed

a word of gratitude

A look of love!

He postponed

Reading a book

Fighting a battle!

He postponed

A sight of beauty

An act of duty!

He postponed

A word of truth

A moment of wisdom!

Alas!

Death has not postponed

Her coldest touch!

***

  

ACT NOW!

 

When people are

Suffering crying dying

When hospitals

Mortuaries are overflowing

When leaders are

Babbling bribing grabbing

When hopes are

Fading and dying

When power is

devouring

values

How can you weep or sleep?

Allow no fears tears years

To paralyze You!

It is time

To act now!

***

DREAMS

  

Every morning

The Sun of hope and  happiness rises

Every afternoon

The cloud of uncertainty floats away !

Every evening

The fog veiled silver globe refills zeal!

Every night

Brings  dreams of  realms  unseen !

*** 

 

 

THE PRIVILEGED

 

That's it

Some haves

Many have-nots

In vaccine access too!

Inequity inhuman

It's big business!

 

Africa groans

Latin America moans

Asia awaits

While they

Grab lion's share

Of vaccine

Despite life being precious

Some have privilege

To live and let others die!

 

****

 

                                                               AGE OF REVENGE

  

Suddenly

Pen seems weaker than dagger

Violence stalks

 slowly steadily and surely

Suddenly pen seems puny

routine life is lifeless

Festival arrives and goes sans  joy

We close our eyes to things and truths

Language gasps for life

Do not disturb yourself

Finding the  world vindictive

Against  truth

Since  times immemorial !

 

[ On coming to know of attack on Rushdie]

 

THE UNDAUNTED

Awaiting call

From nowhere

Roaming on the terrace

I remember paths parted

friends departed

Hopes disappeared

 

I also  think of

Animals endangered

Trees uprooted

Humans perished

Values denuded

 

 I also  detest

Budged promises

Fudged statistics

Fears fuelled

Tears caused

Waves   come and go

Undaunted travels

Ulysses in Pandemic  waters !

 

***

SHADOW BOXING

 

The imagination of every nation is possessed

Mortality stares at us

Our jokes are  fears disguised

Our hopes are  despair coloured

One girl demands to bring back her dead brother

Another her husband or son

Or mother or brother or sister

People are anguished but not angry

Since their foe is  imperceptible

They wrestle with   shadows

Caught inside  a  maze

They  go  bankrupt or commit  suicide

The debates go on

The mikes   are muted

Minds  convoluted

We  long for light sans fight

 The posterity

Is preparing for battles

While we turn mere cheerleaders!

*** 

THE SUNRISE!

Statistics  are

Soulless

You feel infinite void at the loss of your beloved or

Any other for that matter! .

 

The teary- eyed child

The dejected look of  father

The  long marcher with the swollen feet

Fill me with pain permanent!

 

After this crime of Carona

Abetted by Modern Neroes

We shall find Either ruined nations or

Reformed Regimes!

Dignified and healthy life

Our basic right!

Let us rejuvenate

Our fighting  spirit

Let us forge  human bonds

And break the chain

Of invisible foe

In this eerie night

To wake up and find

Melodious songs of birds

And the orange and golden rays of the Sun!

 

***

NO DISGUISE ,PLEASE!

 

 

Mr. Anonymous!

All know you are a fanatic

But pretend  like an innocent victim

You prostrate before power

And hardly criticize it!

You defend your faith

From the forts of the middle ages!

You are not ignorant

But arrogant drunk with power!

You don't pen your thoughts

But act like thought police!

You do not know rule of law

You think you are beyond law

When you ram your car through farmers

Call protesters andolanjeevis!

You can fool none

Neither yourself nor mirror!

You are a wolf

Wailing like a lamb?

 

 

 

INDIFFERENCE

When you reach

dotage

Your fingers touch

Numbers on phone

World  a void!

One offers RIP

Rip open

Injustice hidden

Senses  sluggish

Conscience covered

By ashes of

Indifference!

 

    

MISSED CALL!

You stopped

Calls, recalls

One fine morning or

A lucid night

You called your friend

Reply came from  his son

That father gone forever

A fortnight back!

You felt

Dis-ease  in your bones!

 

***

                                                                THE   ROUTINE

Like any other day

and  

Idli as breakfast

Wallowing on the bed

On the lazy afternoon

Evening walk

Timepass talk

Reading a few memories

The earth is rotating

The Sun is roasting

Life passes by

As we stumble and fumble!

                                                                          ***

 

THE POET !

 

When all are sleeping

Poet awakens

When many are obeying

Poet questions

When every one believes

Poet disbelieves

When world is romantic

Poet is realistic

When all are practical

Poet is idealistic

World is present

Poet is future!

World is limiting

Poet is boundless!!

******