Aik-Siong Koh
2152-B 37th Street
Los Alamos, NM 87544
(505) 661-9779
askoh@alumni.princeton.edu

29 October 2001

President George W. Bush
White House
Washington, DC

testing

Dear Mr. President:

For a Great America

When Microsoft became a monopoly and acted aggressively toward its competitors and customers, it made a lot of enemies. Some of those enemies actually threw eggs and flour bombs at the founding CEO. Fortunately, for Microsoft and its enemies, there are Federal laws and courts to resolve the dispute peacefully.

America has become a giant monopoly and her behavior has created enemies too. But there are no anti trust laws and courts to resolve the disputes peacefully. The egg throwers have progressed to something very deadly and America is having to fight those terrorists or guerrilla warriors. The fight is inherently difficult because it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The odds will improve only if America can get the active cooperation of the hay.

It is not America that the world despises. It is the arrogance, callousness and insensitivity toward others that the world hates. There is a saying “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Except for Jesus, George Washington, Mahatma Gandhi and a very few others, no human entity has escaped that rule. The consequence is the classic struggle between the haves and have nots.

America’s problem today is similar to the problem Great Britain had with her colonies in the 1700’s. The disparity of power and wealth between populations were huge yet the haves were asking for more from the have nots. The ‘Boston Tea Party’ should have been a wake up call for Britain to mend her ways because that ‘terrorist act’ had broad support and the anti British sentiment could not be intimidated away. The harsh response from the British just ensured the ensuing revolution.

When the founding fathers of America declared ‘all men are created equal’, they knew it was something tough to live up to. After it had served its purpose in the war for independence, the fortunate men avoided including more people into that declaration for as long as possible. Only through generations of protests, demonstrations, violence and civil war, was the declaration expanded to cover more and more people. Yet, each expansion brought greater and greater prosperity and benefits to America until she has become the world superpower today.

That demand for equality continues. The rest of the world wants America to treat them in the same manner she treats her own citizens. They will protest, demonstrate and be progressively more violent as long as fortunate Americans avoid treating them as equals. After over two hundred years of spectacular success, doesn’t America dare to apply the declaration that founded her to the rest of the world? Doesn’t she have faith that global equality will bring her even greater prosperity and benefits?

The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution have principles that made remarkable advances in the governance of a country. Those principals have made America the world’s most powerful country. As a superpower, however, America has not shown significant improvements over previous superpowers in the handling of other countries. Whenever American claims the ‘right to protect US interest’, she sounds just as arrogant and selfish as Great Britain was and Microsoft’s ‘right to integrate’ any software with its operating system.

America can make a difference in world governance by limiting her own behavior to those permitted by her Anti Trust Laws. She can be the most generous country ever by donating to the world’s poorer half an amount equal to her defense budget. This way, America is more likely to prosper in peace and liberty than ‘Fortress America’ ever would.

The three billion people that form the world’s poorer half have per capita incomes of two to five hundred dollars a year. At that level, life is cheap in every sense of the word. Hence, the chance for infamy and spoiling the fun of the greedy rich can be very attractive even if it means suicide. There is almost nothing for the poor to loose. At the same time, it is not expensive to win their favor. An annual gift of one hundred dollars per person will improve their incomes by twenty to fifty percent.

The three hundred billion dollars required is similar to the current defense budget and represents three percent of America’s income (GDP). It is a sum that America can afford because America was spending seven percent of GDP on defense during the Cold War. With this sum, America can sway the hearts of half the world to be partial to her. They will return the favor by using their eyes and ears to protect their interest in America. They will make it a lot tougher for enemies of democracy and free economy to exist in their midst.

Many will argue that it is impossible to help the poor. But I believe that passing subsistence amount of money directly to the world’s poorer half will be unprecedented progress. Nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar coins can be dispersed from aircrafts or balloons over the poor rural populations of the world. That money will allow the free market to improve the lots of the poor and those connected with them. The money will keep the people busy spending and making more. Like refreshing rain that brings forth life, the falling coins will bring greater economic life to half the world. Then the whole world will prosper and have a clear reason to love America.

The rich cannot ignore the poor. By virtue of their numbers the poor are diverse, unpredictable and uncontainable. When mobilized, they can become gloriously or dangerously powerful. They can and will bring down the rich. But it is far better for the rich to lift up the poor to a level that maintains peace.

God blessed America. Now, will America bless the world? Or will her selfishness incur the wrath of the poor that renders her blessings null? Will she be enlightened enough to help the poor so that more blessings can be had by all?


Yours sincerely,

Aik-Siong Koh


P.S.

27 February 2003
3% of income for charity is significantly more than the current 0.3% but still far short of the biblical prescription of 10%.