http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4791848.stm The let the truth slip for a sec. Apparently economic boom is measured by how well the rich people are doing. Is the average joe doing well too? poor billionaires.
Yea, I was thinking the same as was reading that article this morning. I'd understand talks about an economic boom if the average population had become richer and could lead a lot higher quality life than before, but here it's only already rich people getting even richer.
With that POV, Brazil may have the greatest "boom rate." Last year only 8 Brazilians were billionaries. This year Brazil has 16 in list. - 100% increase!
In a way the poor can blamed for their lack of wealth. For example, I keep telling one friend how much money he would have if he stopped spending it on DVDs. Some people simply don't get it.
People keep demonizing the rich because, since the rich have money and you don't, the rich must be cheating you out of something. Ooooh... yeah. Most tax cuts go to the rich. Of course... they are the ones being taxed. The poor don't even really get taxed and some recieve welfare... how the hell do you give a tax cut to somebody who isn't paying taxes? For the middle class, sell your damn big screen TV and invest for heaven sakes. As for some dirt farmer in the horn of africa, what the hell is the united states supposed to do? He and his ancestors have probably been scratching at that piece of earth since the agricultural revolution. We could build a factory and hire him at what would be a decent wage over there... but that would be called a sweatshop. Industrialization that isn't literally forced by a colonization effort takes hundreds of years and an economic incentive to happen. If we just send money, the guy spends some on food (and then stops farming because he has his meal ticket) and the rest on drugs, booze, women and (if its enough money) weapons. You work, you get paid. You pay, you get goods. The government takes a slice and makes sure the system runs smoothly. That is how the world turns. Expect nothing else as no more is owed to you.
i can rephrase that. 'People keep demonizing the poor because, since the poor have no money and you do, the poor must be too lazy. Ooooh... yeah.'
First sentence is a question I would like to answer: No, don't set up a factory for him. What US could do is stop taxing 299,999,000 of its 300 million citizen so that: (1)1000 or less big rich cotton producers can become even richer. (2)he could earn the perhaps a dollar /day. (As US has set up the economic game, there is no reason for him to work as even if he does, he does not get paid. (Your last sentence quoted above is false for him.) And BTW, if you really want to help both him and the average US tax payer, terminate the tariffs on cotton. Then he will earn (by working in his cotton field from sun up till dark) in the course of a year, enough to buy a cheap battery powered radio, made in the USA. That radio by itself is not going to make any jobs for the US workers, but there are a lot of "hims" in Africa, and collectively the dollars they could earn will buy some US products. For more details, read "Wealth of Nations" (by Adam Smith) - The mutually beneficial effects of free trade have been known for more than 300 years. I have said it before, but it will not hurt to repeat: I never cease to be surprised / amazed at the stupidity and /or ignorance of the American voter. Why do they permit 299,999,000 of themselves to pay higher taxes so that 1000 (or less) rich Americans (who pass part of the collected tax money on to Washington lobbist, who help keep the average voter ignorant, are also very rich, etc.) can become richer while they, the majority, must also pay more for their new white shirts? Same is true of almost all food items - the 299,999,000 could pay less for both food and in taxes. To give one example: Brazil would love to reduce the cost of your glass of orange juice by 40%, but the 1008 dollars/ton imported duty, other tariffs, red tape, and fixed quotas in place make this impossible. The closest port for off loading is Miami, but Florida, GWB's brothers state, has its own set of duties and quotas. The recent hurricanes have damaged Florida orange trees. The USDA recently announced that this years crop will be down (partially an effect of dry weather also) so expect the cost of your OJ to go up. In fact last week bulk OJ traded at a 14 year high in NYC. How stupid can the US voter be? Does 1/0 give any hint? Amazing ignorance! (or amazingly effective lobby firms, or both.)
