Between the 1950s and 1980s, we saw tremendous improvements in the safety of the food we e

泼水节

傣族的泼水节是在四月十三至十五号，这三天也是他们族的新年节日。傣族的节庆活动一共分三个层次，一天一个花样儿。第一天，大家清扫各家房屋，清理四周环境。第二天，人们倾巢而出，涌向各个大街小巷，用或锅或桶，盛满水，互相泼水嬉闹。傣族人认为这些纯水能为他们带来好运。最后一天，人们便划龙舟，放高升，不亦乐乎。

关于泼水节的来历，民间流传着一个故事。很久很久以前，一个魔王觊觎景洪这块肥沃多产的土地，便霸占了该地，还强迫七位美丽的傣族姑娘做他的“夫人”。当地老百姓恨透了它，这些姑娘们也想尽办法要除掉它。

一天，“七夫人”想了个主意。她用美酒灌醉他，甜言蜜语地奉承他，终于套出了他的死穴：原来只有用这魔头自己的一缕头发勒住他的脖子，才能将其置于死地。

很快魔王就醉醺醺地睡去了。七姑娘便如法炮制，勒住魔头的脖子，魔王的头果然就骨溜溜滚到了地上。这个魔头本是个火魔，所以它头滚到哪儿，哪儿就燃起熊熊大火。七位“夫人”和众人一起奋力朝火上泼水，最终火熄灭了。以后几百年里，傣族人民每年都要欢庆斩除妖魔，庆祝“泼水节”。

The North-South Conflict

The North-South conflict derives its name from the simple fact that, almost without exception, the wealthy nations of the world are in the Northern Hemisphere and the poorer nations lie to their south. Generally speaking, the North consists of the United States, Canada, Europe excluding Albania, Israel, Russia and the other newly independent former Soviet republics (although this is a matter of debate), Japan, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The remaining states of the world, numbering over 110, are the South.

The South has been and is described by many terms -- the Third World, the Developing World, and the Less Developed Countries (LDCs), to name just a few. Again speaking in general terms the countries of the South share two attributes: they have had a colonial past dominated by European powers and they are poor.

Despite obtaining formal independence, many Developing World states have discovered to their chagrin that they remain economically and politically dependent on their former colonial masters. Trade ties and investment patterns established during decades of colonial rule were rarely terminated by the attainment of political sovereignty. From the viewpoint of Developing World countries, this economic dependence carried with it unavoidable political subservience. Thus, even though a Developing World state may have sought to establish its own political-economic independence, it could not.

Such a relationship between former colonial metropolises and their former colonies is termed neocolonialism. Although interpretations of neocolonialism differ on a case-by-case and region-by-region basis, a unifying thrust of the South is to escape this neocolonial relationship.

In part, the Developing World's desire to escape political-economic dependency explains its hostility toward both the West and Western institutions such as the World Bank and multinational corporations. Developing states often resent the World Bank's insistence that they provide full disclosure of financial data, and having had numerous occasions to witness the linkage between economic strength and political power, governments of the less developed states often were skeptical of the claim promulgated by Western state actors and non-state actors alike that no political concessions would be sought if investment opportunities were awarded.

The South, then, was on the horns of a dilemma as it sought to achieve political-economic independence. Full political and economic independence could be achieved only if Developing World states could strengthen their economic autonomy. In most cases, however, that required increased reliance on external sources of finance and expertise. To many Developing World countries, such external economic reliance implied continued political dependence.

Above all else, Developing World counties see their plight of poverty and dependence as the result of past colonial exploitation and current economic inequities in international trade, pricing, and exchange mechanisms. As a result, the South seeks both expanded aid from the North and a restructuring of the existing international economic order. In short, the South desires a New International Economic Order (NIEO).

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