ABSTRACT
At the southern edge of Bangladesh and West Bengal in India, bordering on the Bay of Bengal, is the Sundarban, which literally means "beautiful forest". It is the natural habitat of the so-called Royal Bengal Tiger. The tigers are protected, but nothing protects the human beings who make a living in those deep and lovely and perilous woods: this is just one illustration of the force of economic needs in many Third World countries. The connection between political rights and economic needs can be illustrated in the specific context of famine prevention by considering the massive Chinese famines of 1958-61. Even before the recent economic reforms, China had been much more successful than India in economic development. Political rights, including freedom of expression and discussion, are not only pivotal in inducing political responses to economic needs, they are also central to the conceptualization of economic needs themselves.
