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Starvation II
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Seeing as the previous post on starvation has degenerated into a religious vs. irreligious flame war (and you can carry on with that, just don't do it here), and I've wanted to have a discussion on this for quite a while, I've made a second area where we can actually discuss this topic seriously.
What should be done about the issue of starvation at home and worldwide?
With the current governments and economic system, nothing effective. This is why I see no good coming of Africa for at best, no sooner than a century.
Someone refute this notion, I'd love to be proven wrong.
Actually Africa is doing somewhat better than what the Western Media would like you to believe.
Sure they have a very long way to go before they're even considered to be "well off" but they are taking the first steps, that they are building their own economies and increasing their trade with the rest of the world.
Economist.com
So long as the US and China stay out, it should be fine....
HAHA
FAT CHANCE
Promote capitalism and free enterprise, like what happened to the PRC in the past 3 decades (the people there are still oppressed by Western standards, but at least most of them are decently feed, and the stats are improving for years now) Also, promote more international trade, as certain regions will never be able to grow enough food for their population. Stop imposing sanctions on so called "moral grounds" since that only harms the average people (which then blame their misfortune on thine international community instead of those who are actually responsible) instead of their leaders.
Basically what I said in the previous post.
Or... go for the plan outlined in the pamphlet "a Modest Proposal" Obviously I'm not advocating for this option.
What's the point of hidding parts of your text with spoiler alerts?
Because some people get easily offended, therefore the spoiler alerts can allow them to ignore those parts.
I believe that the best way to go about it would be an international cooperative which provided third world countries with tremendous amounts of aid (enforced democracy, economic infrastructure, welfare) until the country was on its feet. I'm sure the original country could even make a buck here and there, for a willing labor force always has its applications (though it would have to be done justly and for the good of the people in the nation). Granted, such a vast enterprise and perspective would require something close to a global union- another topic I'd like to discuss in the coming days.
I didn't want to comment on the past picture because I knew where it was headed and I have better things to do than to debate about things that will never convince the other side anyways:( however there was an interesting video about how globalization can help stop starvation. We watched it in social and even though I am not completely convinced that this is actually the truth and not just propaganda, I am still going to like to the video as it was an interesting watch and will defiantly increase the discussion. Youtube.com
*Cough* Capitsalims sucks! *Cough, Cough*
Wen Germany was splitted into 2 parts, the western part made a hell of profit by buying stuff in the GDR for low prices and selling it in West Germany for overrated high prices. And the same goes on with many african nations, they export oil and minerals for relativly low prices and under such pathetic safety standards that no one in the western world would even consider to agree on. Another fact: the EU is throwing tons of food - which couldnt been sold but still is edible - into the garbage can instead of selling it for a minimum price to the africans.
The main problem is not the africans economy. The main problem are we out of greed for profit!
Greed exist in all systems (a simple fact of life), the solution is not to eliminate that greed, but to ensure that more people are living a livable life despite the greed of certain people...
*cough* Constitutional amendment that bars employers from being paid more than 40x their lowest wage employee. *cough*
There are far more [legal & illegal] ways for certain people to gain money than to get a big check at the end of the month...
Since we're only talking about making sure everyone lives a survivable life, trying to normalize earning across the board is beyond the scope of this discussion.
I don't think making a limit to how rich someone can be is a good idea... A lot of innovators would not continue innovating if they reached an income bar and could go no further. Rather, just tax them enough to where the government can supply the rest of the people.
Innovators don't need to have a billion dollars sitting in their personal bank account. As one's freedoms end when those freedoms are used to oppress, stockpiling vast sums of money is incredibly damaging to society and thus its own sort of oppression.
Or we could just put a negative interest onto the money, means the more money you keep for a period of time on your bank account, the less it will be after the period. An "I have too much money"-penalty. So it is in the best benefit of the rich to throw the money back into the economy and for corporations it would be better to pay more to the employees so they have the spending capacity to keep the economy running.
True. In fact most ideas came from poor students or from people in their garage. At least as far as I noticed. Also, it is a humans desire to create something. We are beings that want to create something or do something exciting, thats how our brain works. So even if you dont get any money, we still create and invent things - even if its just for the fun.
Corporations do often require large quantities of money, and the motivations of the people in charge of them is often to make MORE money. Not all actions of corporations are evil; Space-X for instance, or other companies aspiring to advance space travel/science may require many billions of dollars. My only goal in this case is to support the rest of the people- which I think only requires high taxes, not necessarily money ceilings or negative interest.
I never said that it is just as easy like "all corps are evil!" Of course there are also good intentions and anctions, like Google recently made "Google Palistine" which had some political impact and gave the palistanian some hope that they will finally get their country. Im trying to point at the bigger picture, at the system, not to each individuals seperately. And that system is heavily flawed and missused in my opinion.
I concur, the system has a ton of flaws. However I think that the essential groundwork isn't too bad- it just needs to have some renovation to improve it.
*coughs for good measure*