Ending world poverty

[Anna B]

When you do the math it is clearly not possible, there simply isn't enough for everyone the planet to all all the things you want them to have, cut the population and it would be possible.

 

You are so wrong sir. There is enough to go round, it's the distribution that is at fault.

Take food. Millions of tons of food is wasted every year. It's not so long ago that we had the wine lakes and bread mountains in the EU, remember that?

 

WE plough tons of food back into the ground, because it's the wrong shape or size to meet the supermarkets' exacting standards. We personally also waste tons of perfectly eatable food.

 

Most starvation is economic. Food is available but unaffordable. In the developing world, even as one area is starving, another is exporting food to pay off third world debt. We have hungry people and food banks in this country, but we are not short of food.

 

When there is a genuine famine it can be politically manufactured as in China during the sixties, and in Zimbabwe after the fall of Rhodesia. Politics is often responsible for failure to feed a population.

When Ireland was suffering from the potato famine in which millions starved, it was sitting next to the richest country on earth with the biggest ever empire which could have fed them ten times over but didn't.

[tinfoilhat]

There is plenty to go round if resources where shared appropriately and people were able to reap the rewards of their labour, without others wanting to make huge profits on the backs of others.

 

How much of a cut in living standards are you prepared to take?

[Bonzo77]

How much of a cut in living standards are you prepared to take?

 

I'd gladly take a cut in living standards.

[tinfoilhat]

I'd gladly take a cut in living standards.

 

How much? Are we just talking national distribution of resources or are we talking global? If we are talking global be prepared for a massive reduction in living standards - and possibly sharing your house and food with a nice family from sub Saharan Africa.

[Bonzo77]

How much? Are we just talking national distribution of resources or are we talking global? If we are talking global be prepared for a massive reduction in living standards - and possibly sharing your house and food with a nice family from sub Saharan Africa.

 

I'd give it all up for a world where everyone can live out of poverty.

[firemanbob]

You are so wrong sir. There is enough to go round, it's the distribution that is at fault.

Take food. Millions of tons of food is wasted every year. It's not so long ago that we had the wine lakes and bread mountains in the EU, remember that?

 

WE plough tons of food back into the ground, because it's the wrong shape or size to meet the supermarkets' exacting standards. We personally also waste tons of perfectly eatable food.

 

Most starvation is economic. Food is available but unaffordable. In the developing world, even as one area is starving, another is exporting food to pay off third world debt. We have hungry people and food banks in this country, but we are not short of food.

 

When there is a genuine famine it can be politically manufactured as in China during the sixties, and in Zimbabwe after the fall of Rhodesia. Politics is often responsible for failure to feed a population.

When Ireland was suffering from the potato famine in which millions starved, it was sitting next to the richest country on earth with the biggest ever empire which could have fed them ten times over but didn't.

 

Most of the waste in unavoidable, they also include crops damage by the weather in the waste figures, its simply not possible to distribute everything equally round 7 billion people. If we did try to do it what percentage of your consumption would you be happy to cut.

 

---------- Post added 14-09-2014 at 19:42 ----------

 

I'd give it all up for a world where everyone can live out of poverty.

 

But then you would be living in poverty.

 

The only way to make everyone equal is for everyone to live in poverty.

[Bonzo77]

Most of the waste in unavoidable, they also include crops damage by the weather in the waste figures, its simply not possible to distribute everything equally round 7 billion people. If we did try to do it what percentage of your consumption would you be happy to cut.

 

---------- Post added 14-09-2014 at 19:42 ----------

 

 

But then you would be living in poverty.

 

The only way to make everyone equal is for everyone to live in poverty.

 

That depends on how you define poverty. There's enough money to give everyone enough food, shelter, medical care, and access to education.

[tinfoilhat]

I'd give it all up for a world where everyone can live out of poverty.

 

What a noble person you are, and I genuinely mean that.

 

I want my free health care, access to ample food clean water and sanitation, power, etc etc. Oh and free speech. I'm pretty sure if you are living in what would be a global socialist (communist ?) state we can be pretty sure you'll need to keep people from trying to get their fair share so unless we've fast forwarded to a Star Trek type utopia they'll be no free speech and riots.

 

You want to spread out our ever dwindling resources, convince everyone you know to stop eating meat and more importantly stop having children.

 

---------- Post added 14-09-2014 at 20:00 ----------

 

That depends on how you define poverty. There's enough money to give everyone enough food, shelter, medical care, and access to education.

 

All of that will be rationed, if it available at all for free.

[firemanbob]

That depends on how you define poverty. There's enough money to give everyone enough food, shelter, medical care, and access to education.

 

Money is simply an IOU for something you do for someone else, so how will people that do nothing for anyone get one of these IOU's, you can't expect some people to work hard and give their IOU's to people that do nothing, all that will happen is people will stop working hard if they can't enjoy the rewards and everyone will be poor.

[Anna B]

No one has mentioned the elephant in the room which is the vast wealth of the super rich.

I'm sure someone can supply the right figures for the '70% of wealth owned by 5%' of the population' or some such.

 

We ordinary folk simply cannot imagine the figures involved. Some of these people have personal wealth that outstrips the finances of some countries, while some folk still have no access even to clean drinking water.

 

As someone once wrote, you can only sleep in one bed at night, and eat a certain amount of food. Who needs such excess?