Global poverty

Discussion in 'Global Issues' started by waltky, Jan 20, 2013.

  1. waltky

    waltky Well-Known Member

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    Most Rich Could End World Poverty 4 Times Over...
    :omg:
    Can we fight poverty by ending extreme wealth?
    January 20, 2013 - Nonprofits owe much of their budgets to wealthy donors, so it’s unusual for a major charity group to implicate extremely rich individuals as part of the problem.
     
  2. Sab

    Sab Active Member

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    Oxfam is typical of a Charity based NGO. They spend the vast majority of their money not in disaster releif but on their huge wage bills and expensive Oxford location. They recruit only like minded leftists and are more interestd in spreading a political gospel than saving lives.

    Billionaires like Bill Gates and Sergi Brin fund huge projects out of their own money that make a difference. Oxfam just serves as meal ticket for university grads who want to 'hang out' shout about politics and get paid for it.
     
  3. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    [video=youtube;LPjzfGChGlE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE[/video]
     
  4. Ashwin Poonawal

    Ashwin Poonawal Active Member

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    The existing form of capitalism worked very well for a while, because then, wealth making power could not converge easily into a few hands. Industrialization has changed that. Now a few rich have undesirably high power to manipulate wealth distribution and politics, and to influence social values. In the US the richest 1% own more than 35%, and the top 3% own more than 50% of the total wealth, while the bottom 50% share 4%. The world statistics is even more appalling, the top 1% own 50% of the total wealth, while the bottom 68% share 3%. Unrestricted capitalism favors the rich. It is easier to make money with money than by working. Extreme greed for wealth and the power of highly concentrated wealth has a degrading effect, the same as that of the power of state, on community.

    Simply defined, morality is: ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you’. The existing degenerate environment of greed forces new entrepreneurs to compromise their moral convictions and adopt cunning ways, first for their businesses to survive against the unscrupulous competition, and later, after testing the fruits of corrupt methods, to prosper. The first offense of a kind against one’s own self is the most painful. Each subsequent one is easier than the preceding one. This craving for quick gratification is evident in mature and growing economies all over the world. Look at how processed food is made unhealthy with harmful preservatives and cheap ingredients, the quality of food in chain restaurants has degraded over the years, farm produce is made unhealthy by high-breeding, and the quality of dairy products by rampant use of hormones and antibiotics.

    The U.S. seems to be leading the way in such greedy health degrading enterprising. This makes the nation fat and unhealthy, requiring more medical attention. On the other side, medical drugs/treatments are marketed at exorbitant prices, and once they are in circulation, our medical drug industry shows instances of suppressing and discouraging immerging cheaper/better remedies, and of suppressing discoveries of dangerous side effects. The common man is getting squeezed from every side. The subtle influence of the rich on our legislature keeps our tax code from correcting the loop holes, which favor the rich heavily. This keeps the taxes of the less affluent high, and the entitlement programs strained. Our automobile industry ignored, or bought and shelved technical innovations, to avoid prerequisite expensive modifications to production processes, loosing against foreign completion in the end, retarding the country’s progress. Even our national sports have turned excessively commercial. Our society is losing from every side.

    A revolution almost always has wide spread economic hardship at its base. Too much wealth in the hands of a few robs democracy of its effectiveness. The present worldwide wave of expression of dissatisfaction for the existing political establishments is only the beginning. This is more visible in the well developed economies, because of the fact that in a mature economy the greed of the rich is more rampant, due to the smaller number of available new conceptual opportunities. Man’s pursuit of happiness is ever existing formidable force. History is nothing but a story of mankind’s pursuit of happiness. Only the means and methods keep evolving. This force initiates new currents in accordance with the perceived changes in the reality. Each new generation brings forth clearer perspective of the prevailing reality. The majority of the world population feeling safer than before has shifted its focus to achieving comfort. The biggest obstacle to comfortable living, the common man sees now, is the unjust distribution of wealth. As a result the demand for more profound socialism is forming in the mind of the world masses. Often, at the beginning, revolting masses are acutely aware of their pain but not clear about remedy. We are in the early phase of Karl Marx’s ‘Class War’. But we can use a less fierce and very effective remedy than the one Marx recommended. Unless the real underlying decease is addressed, treating the symptoms only with political adjustments will not mollify the masses. The citizens having louder voice in democratic governments, the democracies will lead the way, bearing the bigger brunt. Fortunately, since in democracies the spirit of law is not in cahoots with tyrannies, the revolution is liable to be less violent. But the descent is growing in size for sure. It seems like the next lesson on humanity’s curriculum is that, ‘unchecked commercial greed is detrimental to community’s happiness’.

    What we need is a way to defuse the power of money on economic decision-making, releasing the economic factors from the narrow channels of money flow that keep enriching the economically high and mighty. This needs to be effected without blocking individual’s ability to acquire wealth, which motivates economic production. It is best to achieve this economic power diffusion with least interference from other entities, like continued manipulation by government.

    This can be achieved by limiting the number of persons any business can employ. In conjunction with this there has to be a limit to the maximum percentage interest an individual can own in all other businesses.
     
  5. DZero

    DZero Member

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    Inequality is a problem that can only come through our developed institutions that formed over societal evolution (which, of course, is fueled by technology and previous states of society containing hierarchical structures). To combat it, we end the structure we have now (the state and capitalism), otherwise, we have a problem that can't be solved unless societal evolution has something else for us.
     

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