patrick.net

HARM,

I think I agree with you on the need for a levelling of the playing field. What I was thinking with my analogy is that a wealth aristocracy means that at least some people are able to do what they want in life. (OK, so that doesn't sound all that good.) I should say, I don't really care if they exist; I care more about the opportunities for everyone else. If most people could afford the lifestyle enjoyed by, say, an average doctor or lawyer, I doubt there would be too much complaints about the hyper-rich.

Like world hunger, I don't think of poverty as a resource problem; more of a political problem. A larger death tax will help solve it about as much as having our farmers grow huge food surpluses. (Which, IIRC, they already do.)

Like world hunger, I don’t think of poverty as a resource problem; more of a political problem.

Exactly. I may be flamed for saying this but I think foreign aids to hungry nations serve no purpose whatsoever. We better just stop wasting money now. They do not need food. They need education. Giving them food will only prolong their hunger.

I don’t really care if they exist; I care more about the opportunities for everyone else. If most people could afford the lifestyle enjoyed by, say, an average doctor or lawyer, I doubt there would be too much complaints about the hyper-rich.

We are in agreement here. The only problem is, in order for the hyper-rich to exist (very high resource individuals), you pretty much have to have large numbers of hyper-poor (very low resource individuals).

Like world hunger, I don’t think of poverty as a resource problem; more of a political problem.

Exactly. I may be flamed for saying this but I think foreign aids to hungry nations serve no purpose whatsoever. We better just stop wasting money now. They do not need food. They need education. Giving them food will only prolong their hunger.

I agree when it comes to sending habitual aid to countries run by corrupt bureaucracies or dictatorships. The aid always gets diverted away from its intended target anyway. More aid just prolongs the existence of these rotten governments and the misery of the people.

Truely, we are all very well off, not hungry (yes, major political/theft/distribution problem with world hunger), have no neighbors chasing us with machetes for being in the wrong ethnic group, etc.

We are indeed very lucky. If we were born in Somalia, we would not be able to get anything no matter what we do.

It irkes the heck out of me that a fruit salad at McDonald’s cost’s damn near $5, but I can get a double cheeseburger for $1.

McDonald needs to protect its brand, selling too much fruit salad may distract it from the core business.

I love vegetables. But I like them cooked in meat or fish broth.

But if you’re in a hurry, and looking for a healthy lunch, it’s tough to find much of anything.

If you want a healthy lifestyle, you should not eat in a hurry anyway. Stress kills. ;)