Ending world poverty

[Stan Tamudo]

I believe human nature can and does change.

 

Civilisation has done a lot to change human nature, and even though some say the veneer is very thin, at least it's a start. There are examples of this all over the place.

 

However Need and greed are very different but both unacceptable in my book for different reasons. Need can start wars over resources which is understandable but still not acceptable. Surely it's better by far to share what we have, rather than make the desperate fight for it. We live in a world of plenty, and also have the intelligence, innovation and means to stretch what we have even further.

 

Population actually drops, the higher the GDP.

 

Greed is another thing entirely, and I cannot think of any excuse for it, it should be made as unacceptable as, say, human sacrifice. I also believe in altruism and the good in people.

 

This hard, ruthless, cynical streak in people seems to have come to the fore since the banking crash and I believe is born of fear and uncertainty. I also think ordinary people have had a glimpse behind the veil and can see plainly for the first time the inherant unfairness in the world and are not prepared to put up with it any longer.

 

We sort it or suffer the consequences...

 

Lovely post as per Anna B.

[NightHawk33]

The UK pledged to give an extra £375m to help feed the world's poorest children.

Mr Cameron pledged a further £52m in UK aid for victims of the civil war in Syria, taking the UK's total spending on aid for Syria and neighbouring states to £400m.

 

We have food banks in the UK. Why not keep OUR money in the UK. You need to look after your own first before helping others.

 

---------- Post added 20-09-2014 at 23:58 ----------

 

The 14th richest country in the world and we have food banks? Something is deffo wrong.

[firemanbob]

I believe human nature can and does change.

 

Civilisation has done a lot to change human nature, and even though some say the veneer is very thin, at least it's a start. There are examples of this all over the place.

 

However Need and greed are very different but both unacceptable in my book for different reasons. Need can start wars over resources which is understandable but still not acceptable. Surely it's better by far to share what we have, rather than make the desperate, fight for it. We live in a world of plenty, we also have the intelligence, innovation and means to stretch what we have even further.

 

Population actually drops, the higher the GDP.

 

Greed is another thing entirely, and I cannot think of any excuse for it, it should be made as unacceptable as, say, human sacrifice. I also believe in altruism and the good in people. We need to hang onto this and aim to improve.

 

This hard, ruthless, cynical streak in people seems to have come to the fore since the banking crash and I believe is born of fear and uncertainty. I also think because of the crash, the internet etc. ordinary people have had a glimpse behind the veil and can see plainly for the first time the inherant unfairness in the world and are not prepared to put up with it any longer. Hence the break out of discontent all over the place.

 

We sort it or suffer the consequences...

 

Some humans have always been greedy, some have always been caring and willing to share, some humans have always had been hard, ruthless, and cynical, some don't want to share with every other human on the planet, and even if they did they would soon realise that the sacrifice is too great. Human societies have always been unfair, there have always been people with power and people with none. Humans have always fought over the available resources and will continue to do so. So how exactly has human nature changed over the millenia?

And live on a planet with finite and diminishing resources not a world of plenty.

[Bonzo77]

It wouldn't be fair for one person to have more than another person so it would need to be equaled out.

 

I'm not talking about taking money from billionaires and multi-billion companies and putting it directly into the hands of poverty stricken individuals. I'm talking about investing money in poverty stricken communities, giving people the basics they need in order to stand a chance at life. This is definitely possible and could be paid for many times over.

[Anna B]

I'm not talking about taking money from billionaires and multi-billion companies and putting it directly into the hands of poverty stricken individuals. I'm talking about investing money in poverty stricken communities, giving people the basics they need in order to stand a chance at life. This is definitely possible and could be paid for many times over.

 

Exactly, that's what I'm talking about.

[tinfoilhat]

Exactly, that's what I'm talking about.

 

Are we talking locally or globally here? Everyone gets the basics in this country (free education up 18 etc etc etc).

[Anna B]

Some humans have always been greedy, some have always been caring and willing to share, some humans have always had been hard, ruthless, and cynical, some don't want to share with every other human on the planet, and even if they did they would soon realise that the sacrifice is too great. Human societies have always been unfair, there have always been people with power and people with none. Humans have always fought over the available resources and will continue to do so. So how exactly has human nature changed over the millenia?

And live on a planet with finite and diminishing resources not a world of plenty.

 

Yes, that's true. But we have the ability to rise above it.

 

People are more aware of what's going on in the rest of the world than they've ever been, and more and more people now think it's unacceptable that people are still living in abject poverty and even starving in a world of plenty.

 

Regular readers on here will know the contempt I have for most politicians, but this is one area in which they appear to be striving to acheive something worthwhile. They just have to make sure aid is used for what it's meant for and not syphoned off into the wrong pockets. We're also seeing big companies starting to parade their charitable intentions - I doubt that is less to do with altruism and more to do with good PR, but it proves they have to respond to public opinion. We have to keep the pressure up.

 

I want to see the vast majority of people regard greed as unacceptable, - as unacceptable as drink driving or paedophilia, (both considered OK at one time,) thus forcing those with all the wealth to think again.

 

Barring wars (which I would also like to see the end of,) and natural disasters, I believe that absolute poverty as experienced in third world countries will become a thing of the past before the next century.

[Bonzo77]

Are we talking locally or globally here? Everyone gets the basics in this country (free education up 18 etc etc etc).

 

Everyone in the UK does have the basics. We're incredibly lucky to be born into such luxury.

[firemanbob]

Yes, that's true. But we have the ability to rise above it.

 

Some people have the ability to rise above it and some don't.

 

 

 

People are more aware of what's going on in the rest of the world than they've ever been, and more and more people now think it's unacceptable that people are still living in abject poverty and even starving in a world of plenty.

And more and more people aren't bothered.

 

 

Regular readers on here will know the contempt I have for most politicians, but this is one area in which they appear to be striving to acheive something worthwhile. They just have to make sure aid is used for what it's meant for and not syphoned off into the wrong pockets. We're also seeing big companies starting to parade their charitable intentions - I doubt that is less to do with altruism and more to do with good PR, but it proves they have to respond to public opinion. We have to keep the pressure up.

 

Its used to bribe foreign governments hence the reason we give it countries that don't really need it.

 

 

I want to see the vast majority of people regard greed as unacceptable, - as unacceptable as drink driving or paedophilia, (both considered OK at one time,) thus forcing those with all the wealth to think again.

Compared to the majority of the world, UK residents are all greedy because even the poorest members of our society consume more than their fair share of the worlds resources.

 

Barring wars (which I would also like to see the end of,) and natural disasters, I believe that absolute poverty as experienced in third world countries will become a thing of the past before the next century.

 

I doubt it, I would say that as the global population increases absolute poverty will increase.

[Anna B]

Are we talking locally or globally here? Everyone gets the basics in this country (free education up 18 etc etc etc).

 

I'm talking Globally. As you say most people in this country have the basics, I'd like to see that applied to everywhere. At least then everyone gets a chance.

Improved and tweaked versions of our welfare state would be a good model to follow.

 

That doesn't mean to say our society hasn't got room for improvement but that's another thread.

 

And yes, we should be grateful for what this country has done for us, warts and all.