The division between East and West on which most of us have been brought up, is gradually losing its significance and relevance in the face of a very much sharper division of mankind—between rich and poor countries. Among the rich are all the ‘white’ countries and Japan. They make up one quarter of the world population and share between them 90 per cent of the world’s income. This leaves 10 per cent for the other three-quarters. On average, an American earns in one week a little under what an Indian earns in one year. An Englishman earns the same amount in about two and a half weeks. This imbalance is far greater today than it has ever been before. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the ratio of wealth between the richer and the poorer countries was of the order of five to one. Now it is twenty-five to one.

One could argue that in a world of plenty, in which all were able to satisfy their basic needs and aspirations, such a gross disparity was intolerable. But the point is that the majority of those living in the poor countries are not in a position to satisfy the most fundamental of their needs and aspirations in terms of food, shelter, clothing and employment; whereas we, in the rich countries, having quite lost sight of the distinction between what is fundamentally necessary and what is superfluous, are increasingly brain-washed into thinking that the most unnecessary novelties are vital to our well-being.