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Robert_Sock
Guest
Directly, perhaps not, but indirectly, yes, especially in Third-World countries.
To continue this thread, please explain how it is that 9,500 children die due to malnourishment each and every day?
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To continue this thread, please explain how it is that 9,500 children die due to malnourishment each and every day?
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Theo520
Guest
The gross (as in excessive) corruption in third world governments has nothing to do with western capitalism, it’s a home grown problem and the result of greed among their ruling class.
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Eric_Hyom
Guest
Coffee plantation workers barely exist on a couple of dollars a day. Once the coffee beans are on a ship, traders earn tens and hundreds of thousands, for doing practically nothing. Companies like Starbucks make huge profits from coffee, and they seem to pay hardly any tax.
If they even paid coffee plantation workers five dollars an hour, their families would not live close to starvation levels, and their children could go to school and not have to work. I call this slavery, and they don’t even need people with whips to keep their downtrodden workers in line.
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
Dave Ramsey on capitalism versus socialism:
youtube.com/watch?v=-r3-oWCYM3k&nohtml5=False
youtube.com/watch?v=ffbgfFNu49w&nohtml5=False
youtube.com/watch?v=-r3-oWCYM3k&nohtml5=False
youtube.com/watch?v=ffbgfFNu49w&nohtml5=False
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
One of the reasons why emigrating to the United States is so popular is that you can work and keep some of your earnings.
And study and invest in worthwhile activities.
And start your own business.
youtube.com/watch?v=lp_e27LJdCY&ebc=ANyPxKqkHZ5RW_hvlK6E2YzlqgUThmNztB2q7d4eQZROu9RP7HMjG88FReY3m1sONzLAaT0jVvgGoxAY-2MWRt21Md63gN9RTg&nohtml5=False
And study and invest in worthwhile activities.
And start your own business.
youtube.com/watch?v=lp_e27LJdCY&ebc=ANyPxKqkHZ5RW_hvlK6E2YzlqgUThmNztB2q7d4eQZROu9RP7HMjG88FReY3m1sONzLAaT0jVvgGoxAY-2MWRt21Md63gN9RTg&nohtml5=False
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
Seems to me that there is a huge chain of people working in the coffee business.
The plants have to be planted and cultivated.
And they have to know which variety of bean to plant. They are all different. Their final product tastes different. Some varieties sell for higher prices than others.
Then the beans are harvested. But only at the correct time of the growing cycle.
So somebody has to be knowledgeable about when to pick which beans, since they are not totally uniform.
Then somebody has to grade the beans.
Eventually, the beans are shipped.
And they they get sorted again.
And then somebody has to roast the beans and know how much to roast them.
And finally, somebody has to brew up a cup of coffee.
And some skills are worth more than other skills. So some skills pay more because the skills are rarer.
And if you make a profit along the way, then you have to decide what to do with the profit.
Where do you invest your profit if your costs are less than your selling price.
And if you study and are an expert in investments, then you can sell your services to other people who have some profits to invest.
Here is one way to do it:
youtube.com/watch?v=rK2Z2soeo6c&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs
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Theo520
Guest
Are you suggesting that we overthrow all these foreign governments and institute our rule, so we can raise their minimum wage to say $15/hr?
Yea, if only the UN was in charge of everything, life would be good.
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Eric_Hyom
Guest
In third world countries they earn maybe fifty cents per hour harvesting coffee beans, they have no holiday pay, sick pay or pension. there are no trade unions to fight their cause.
In America, the person who cleans the toilets in a coffee proccesing factory will earn maybe ten dollars per hour. So what is the difference in skill levels? that a toilet cleaner in America can earn maybe twenty times the hourly rate of a harvester.
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Robert_Sock
Guest
The same is true for other forms of produce, such as bananas.
A little bit of optimizing, the president of the World Bank says that extreme poverty (those earning less than a $1.00 a day) will be ended by 2030. He’s also has said that those living in poverty, will also be helped. It may be all talk, but I sense that the world is going through a massive revolution where things like this type of poverty will be alleviated.
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stinkcat_14
Guest
Part of the problem is the cost of living is much lower in many developing countries, so direct comparisons of wages are more difficult. I was once in a country where we paid our driver $20 a day, a pittance in the US, but actually good money where we were at.
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
In tropical countries, the warm climate allows “everything” to grow there. So the local people can grow their own food easily. You don’t need to heat your house. Daily living expenses are much less than in parts of the United States.
There are daily market days which are generally operated by the women; construction and truck driving are generally done by the men.
Direct comparisons are not applicable.
But compare the differences in the political economy. It is difficult to make comparisons between a dictatorship and a free market economy. Or a “democracy”.
In one place where I worked, there were very few actual economic or econometric statistics. The foriegn government experts … generally with some United Nations bureaucracy or other … said the highest paid local people were the taxi drivers.
There are daily market days which are generally operated by the women; construction and truck driving are generally done by the men.
Direct comparisons are not applicable.
But compare the differences in the political economy. It is difficult to make comparisons between a dictatorship and a free market economy. Or a “democracy”.
In one place where I worked, there were very few actual economic or econometric statistics. The foriegn government experts … generally with some United Nations bureaucracy or other … said the highest paid local people were the taxi drivers.
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
In real life, based on my working in those banana raising countries, the companies had to pay the local people extremely well … otherwise the local people would just stay home. The companies build modern housing and provided safe routes so the local people could travel back and forth to their villages. Bandits were a problem. And on payday, the employees were very vulnerable. The companies had to make it worthwhile for the local people to come to work. Sometimes they even gave their employee ID cards to a cousin if they didn’t feel like working that day.
The same is true for other forms of produce, such as bananas.
A little bit of optimizing, the president of the World Bank says that extreme poverty (those earning less than a $1.00 a day) will be ended by 2030. He’s also has said that those living in poverty, will also be helped. It may be all talk, but I sense that the world is going through a massive revolution where things like this type of poverty will be alleviated.
The perception of poverty is VASTLY different in the USA versus in some other countries.
Read up about the current situations in Venezuela and Argentina and Brazil and some other countries given the difficulties they are experiencing … literally today.
OR, even visit those countries yourself … get a job teaching English.
In Thailand, right now, there is a real demand for people to teach in Pattaya. Look up Father Ray Brannon who set up orphanages before he died. The Father Ray Foundation.
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Theo520
Guest
Yes, some time abroad provides essential perspective, you can’t fix the worlds problems by mandating the likes of a global minimum wage.
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Eric_Hyom
Guest
Pay someone $20 dollars a day, and you put them in the top 20% of the richest people on Earth. The problem is lifting the wages of the three billion people on Earth, who earn less than $2.50 per day.
Capitalism seems to benefit by keeping the poor in debt, the world debt is around $59 trillion, that is around $8,000 for every man, woman and child on the planet.
Capitalism seems to grossly overvalue assets for the rich, and undervalue the same assets for the poor, land is the prime example. All land belongs to God, we are but temporary custodians.
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Eric_Hyom
Guest
That is wonderful if you are bought up in a nice American family, but not so nice if your family is bought up living of a rubbish tip, where 40% of children die before they reach five.
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
Understanding basic causes of poverty is assisted by, for example, comparing “country pairs”.
For example, North Korea is dirt poor while South Korea is very prosperous. In 1953 both were economic basket cases. So, make a list of the similarities and differences between the north and south halves of that peninsula that are the determinants of poverty and/or wealth.
Similarly, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are both on the island of Hispaniola. Not much difference between them; yet, Haiti is near the bottom of the economic ladder whereas the Dominican Republic does MUCH better. Why the difference(s)?
Pair up other countries … Israel versus Gaza.
List countries where people leave and countries where people immigrate to.
Very few people immigrate to socialist countries. Why is that?
Russia?
Somalia?
Niger?
Cuba?
Argentina?
What countries are favored by people fleeing?
Singapore? [Has no natural resources at all.]
Hong Kong?
Make a list.
For example, North Korea is dirt poor while South Korea is very prosperous. In 1953 both were economic basket cases. So, make a list of the similarities and differences between the north and south halves of that peninsula that are the determinants of poverty and/or wealth.
Similarly, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are both on the island of Hispaniola. Not much difference between them; yet, Haiti is near the bottom of the economic ladder whereas the Dominican Republic does MUCH better. Why the difference(s)?
Pair up other countries … Israel versus Gaza.
List countries where people leave and countries where people immigrate to.
Very few people immigrate to socialist countries. Why is that?
Russia?
Somalia?
Niger?
Cuba?
Argentina?
What countries are favored by people fleeing?
Singapore? [Has no natural resources at all.]
Hong Kong?
Make a list.
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Robert_Sock
Guest
Why not use the following as a comparison.
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
Canada
Sweden
Norway
Ireland
New Zealand
Belgium
Also, Cuba may be communist, but their society is stable, functional and more humanitarian than most.
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Theo520
Guest
Why did you completely ignore the question presented?
The countries you presented provide no contrast or insight btw.
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Robert_Sock
Guest
You stated that very few people want to migrate to socialist countries and I made my own list of socialist countries that go counter to your hypothesis.
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Monte_RCMS
Guest
The countries listed are not socialist countries.
If someone believes the are, let them prove it.
They are free market capitalist countries with large social benefit programs.
If Cuba is stable, then why do people risk life and limb and drowning by attempting to escape in leaky rafts?
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