By: Moustafa Elhoushi
June 2000

When nuclear fission was discovered in the first half of the last century, scientists claimed that nuclear fission will solve all of our energy crises and that it will replace non-renewable energy resources. Energy resources such as coal and oil produce carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide causes global warming and global warming will cause floods. But which countries will be affected by these floods? The developing countries. The countries which only use 25% of the world's energy will face the problems caused by the developed countries. Scientists claimed that this problem will be solved using nuclear power. Were these scientists right?

Of course not! America bombed two Japanese cities using nuclear power on the 6th and 8th of August 1945. Now, countries such as Britain, America, China and Russia possess nuclear weapons. Many developed countries have nuclear power stations. In fact, 20% of the world's electricity is produced by nuclear power. But did the developing countries benefit from nuclear power? Of course not! Very few developing countries can afford building nuclear power stations. What about global warming? Well, nuclear power did not solve it. Every second, tons of carbon dioxide are deposited into the atmosphere, not by power stations, but by cars and factories. Many people in the developing countries work in uranium ores and search for radioactive substances and the developed countries buy it. The developing countries earn a lot of money from uranium, but what about the people who work in the mines? Of course, they are not told that they will get cancer. They risk their lives and earn a few dollars while the European governments earn millions of dollars!

In 1950, the first computer in history was built. As time passed by, computers became more useful and electronic machines in many industries began replacing humans. This caused unemployment. In developed countries, there are many people who learn how to manufacture and fix computers, so this solved the unemployment problem. Developed countries knew how to cope with this problem, but what about the developing countries? Many European companies and some companies owned by rich business men in the developing world use robots and computers. Their computers and robots are fixed and manufactured by people from the developed countries and not from the developing countries. So what's the result: unemployment.

We all know what computers can do for us. Computers can do many calculations, help us in typing, drawing images, designing and communicating. The developed countries knew how to benefit from computers. But what about the developing countries? Governments, unlike private companies, in developing countries can't buy enough computers. So what are the consequences? The developed countries managed to become richer, thanks to mass-production and high quality products. The developing countries became poorer because they couldn't produce high-quality goods quickly. Many countries which were in the 2nd World in the 1950's are now in the 3rd World. In fact, there are very few countries in the 2nd World because the gap between the rich and poor countries is getting bigger and bigger, thanks to the invention which we call the computer!

In the year 2000, another atomic bomb was invented. After discovering the map of the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), scientists claimed that this will solve many problems we face today. They claimed that one day there will be no such thing as AIDS or cancer. But how will this happen if there are very few people in the developing countries who can have a map of their own DNA? Imagine that one day you read an advertisement asking for a doctor with a PHD, three-years experience and ..... a map of your DNA! Imagine that scientists discover that people in one part of the world are lazy and that people in a different part of the world are rude; will these people ever find a job? Imagine that one day that people in the developed countries are all healthy while people in the developing countries are dying and no one cares about the other! Imagine that one day people won't care about their own health. They will start drinking endlessly, smoke, take drugs, eat 20 BigMacs daily and won't perform any exercises and yet they will be healthy!