firemanbob Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) No, what makes you think that? I think the rest of the world exploits Africa. Just like the Chinese are exploited for their slave labour! So if someone offers me some work paying 10p an hour and I accept that work, it is then my employers fault that I am poor? Who's fault would it be if I wasn't offered any work? ---------- Post added 19-09-2014 at 16:50 ---------- It is the fault of a handful of rich people holding all the wealth. Starting with the corrupt presidents / prime minister of these countries, many of whom are billionaires, and the heads of multi-national corporations who have made their money off the backs of exploiting the poverty wages in Africa. But they are still Africans. Edited September 19, 2014 by firemanbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncocker Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) It's funny how many people seem to think that capitalism only has winners, when the whole system is built on people losing. Capitalism created the world's poor, it will not save them now. on the other hand/ Most people were already poor. Some people got rich. A lot of poor are on the way up too e.g. China. Only problem is the rich are trying to use the state to regulate themselves richer. That said, extreme poverty will only end when extreme wealth is also ended. It can't be had both ways: either people want to live in societies which are fair and equal, as far as possible; or they want societies shot through with massive inequalities. This applies holistically: globally the incomes of the top 1% have increased 60% in the last twenty years. The growth in income for the 0.01% has been higher still. According to Oxfam: "the top 100 billionaires added $240 billion to their wealth in 2012- Edited September 19, 2014 by johncocker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemanbob Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 It's funny how many people seem to think that capitalism only has winners, when the whole system is built on people losing. Capitalism created the world's poor, it will not save them now. It's a bit like gambling then, for every winner there are thousands of losers, yet people still choose to gamble. We could ban gambling to stop people loosing but then there would be no winners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncocker Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) Rich industrialized countries have to pay out money to support the millions of people who cannot get work. Machines have become so productive here that human input is becoming obsolete. Meanwhile the people in poor countries are barely productive enough to support themselves and cannot afford even basic, rudimentary tools. Machines and computers are busily putting millions of Westerns out of work and on the scrapheap to be provided for by the variable whims of the state or charity, whilst sucking up vast natural reserves from poor countries. Machines are useful to relief the real drudgery of life but we are getting to a point where even fulfilling and enjoyable activities are being swallowed up by the machine. This system we have serves the machine and the machine owners and is steadily screwing everyone else. It sounds melodramatic but in serving the machine and its masters we are ultimately destroying ourselves and our planet. The world saftey net is a refugee camp. Coming to to a town near you soon. "I've seen the future brother, it is murder.":D Edited September 19, 2014 by johncocker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 So if someone offers me some work paying 10p an hour and I accept that work, it is then my employers fault that I am poor? Who's fault would it be if I wasn't offered any work? Come on man, now you're just being silly! ---------- Post added 19-09-2014 at 17:26 ---------- A lot of poor are on the way up too e.g. China. Who is China? Do I know her? The gap between the rich and the poor in China is incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemanbob Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Come on man, now you're just being silly! So its not the employers fault that people are poor, who's fault is it then? ---------- Post added 19-09-2014 at 17:43 ---------- The gap between the rich and the poor in China is incredible! And the best way to decrease the gap is to keep everyone poor, since it is impossible for everyone to be rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 So its not the employers fault that people are poor, who's fault is it then? There are many people at fault, including our own government & the EU. We should do what we can to try to get our governments to stop paying so much money to keep poor people poor. If there were more employers & they were able to export more of their goods/services there wouldn't be such low wages, high unemployment & subsistence farmers always on the verge of starving if a crop fails. IMO, it's not enough capitalism. Subsidies & import/export controls aren't capitalism, that's protectionism, much more dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemanbob Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 There are many people at fault, including our own government & the EU. We should do what we can to try to get our governments to stop paying so much money to keep poor people poor. If there were more employers & they were able to export more of their goods/services there wouldn't be such low wages, high unemployment & subsistence farmers always on the verge of starving if a crop fails. IMO, it's not enough capitalism. Subsidies & import/export controls aren't capitalism, that's protectionism, much more dangerous. Africans don't need to sell their produce outside Africa, they have everything they could possibly need to grow their economy by selling to each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) Africans don't need to sell their produce outside Africa, they have everything they could possibly need to grow their economy by selling to each other. But Africans don't even own most of the stuff in Africa, as I've tried to point out before, the minerals etc are largely owned by Glencore, (owned I believe by the Rothschilds,) much of the land is owned by Mossanto,(also Rothschild,) and so on... Many Africans can't buy stuff because they don't have enough money, so the stuff is sold where it will fetch the best price, which is wealthy countries. The Africans can't afford to buy it back. Edited September 19, 2014 by Anna B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemanbob Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) But Africans don't even own most of the stuff in Africa, as I've tried to point out before, the minerals etc are largely owned by Glencore, (owned I believe by the Rothschilds,) much of the land is owned by Mossanto,(also Rothschild,) and so on... Many Africans can't buy stuff because they don't have enough money, so the stuff is sold where it will fetch the best price, which is wealthy countries. The Africans can't afford to buy it back. I haven't seen any evidence to support your stance that foreign companies own the majority of Africa. Africans can choose not to let them own it and don't even need to buy it back, In fact I think they are already doing that in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the problem is that once they take these assets back they appear incapable of managing them. Here is a list of the largest land owners. http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-biggest-landowners-2011-3?op=1 Queen Elizabeth II tops the list. 6.6 billion acres of land worldwide including Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia and a few other spots here and there. Also, the all-important Falkland Islands. I didn't know she owned the entirety of these countries but it doesn't appear to have stopped them becoming wealthy. The list includes Africans that own parts of Africa, there is no mention of non Africans owning most of it. http://www.whoownstheworld.com/about-the-book/largest-landowner/ Edited September 20, 2014 by firemanbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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