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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
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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