Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: $Revision: 1.6.2.16 $; site inmet.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!cca!inmet!janw From: janw@inmet.UUCP Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Re: (micromotives & macrobehavior) Message-ID: <28200078@inmet.UUCP> Date: Fri, 6-Sep-85 17:56:00 EDT Article-I.D.: inmet.28200078 Posted: Fri Sep 6 17:56:00 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 15-Sep-85 04:49:59 EDT References: <3476@topaz.UUCP> Lines: 35 Nf-ID: #R:topaz:-347600:inmet:28200078:000:1532 Nf-From: inmet!janw Sep 6 17:56:00 1985 > [Mike Huybenz] > The fact is that the wealth of a nation does not feed the poor. Omit the "not" to get a fact. In the USA, one can eat like a king off a garbage dump. One hour's work at McDonald's could feed a 3d world citizen for a week. To prove his point, Mike would have to name a rich nation whose poor are *poor* not by THAT country's standards, but *by poor country standards*. There's no such place. The poor of any nation know they profit by its wealth. Proof: they seldom or never migrate to poorer countries, at least for economic reasons. If "distribution of wealth" mattered more to the poor popula- tions than its abundance in society, you would observe them flocking from wealthier countries to poorer but more welfare- oriented countries - e.g., from Hongkong to PRC. Or from USA to Great Britain. All economic migrations go the other way. Even inside a poor country, refugees from a famine area know that reaching a prosperous province means life. Try telling *them* trickle-down does not work. The problem of poverty hinges on wealth creation, NOT on its distribution. To verify this, list nations, first in the order of per capita GNP; then according to *per capita consumption of pro- tein*. This is a nice indicator because it tells you how the great mass of citizens live. The rich can only eat so much pro- tein, so they cannot distort the picture. I haven't done it be- cause I have no doubt of the result. Distribution takes care of itself, one way or another. Jan Wasilewsky