"How would you eliminate poverty and misery in poor countries ?"

[Boyar Son]

Vague question and infuriatingly broad. I was asked this. This is my half-assed answer

The country must participate in the global market with products or services that are able to compete and succeed. China offers cheap labor and the United States has many large corporations that offer things from food to technology. This will in the long run ensure poverty is eliminated as jobs are created to meet foreign demands.

The government must have reasonable taxes on good and services. Brazil has poor tax rates, driving costs of goods high disallowing people to buy products other countries have to offer in the global market. The misery of not affording good and services will dissipate when families are able to afford a better quality of life.

The government must plan to reinvest its wealth from taxes into the community such as infrastructure and schools. Many European countries have done this, ensuring people have access to hospitals and universities whereas many Americans cannot afford it. Investing in the community will eliminate hardship, eliminating inequality of goods and services by a large margin and creating a more equal environment where everyone has access to a better life.

I had to include misery and inequality in there, by the way.

Can you guys go ahead and tear into this? I swear this isn't a question for a college paper because it's quite damn clear in the question itself...what college would ask this?

I'm just wondering how TWC would "solve" it.

[Menelik_I]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Vague question and infuriatingly broad. I was asked this. This is my half-assed answer



I had to include misery and inequality in there, by the way.

Can you guys go ahead and tear into this? I swear this isn't a question for a college paper because it's quite damn clear in the question itself...what college would ask this?

I'm just wondering how TWC would "solve" it.

The short version : You can't.

The Long version:

You has a foreigner has less power over the destiny of these people than these countries government and these people themselves.

They themselves can solve these problems by first sorting out their local politics, something that requires courage and honest, so that the local policies are not ing up the situation even more by preventing people to work by denying them the right to work, own land or build businesses.

Secondly they actually have to act upon these new favorable circumstance with work ethic and actually build a better future. South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore didn't need a thread in the internet, much less foreign assistance to get out of the hole.

As for what you can do, what about not making things worse by subsidizing failed government and making bringing them down a hell lot harder.

[Primo]

With a foreign invasion and temporary goverment. Yes, I'm serious. There is no way the people in those countries can do anything to change their situation, and giving money doesn't help either (well, german/american weapons export would probably rise ...).

On the other hand any foreign invasion is unjust and leads to losses of innocent lives - I'm not sure if that is preferable.

[Fallenempire]

end neo colonialism.
erase all odious debt
More developed nations should stop supporting dictators and despots just because they allow US and European Corps to pay their population slave labor wages
dont allow first world corporations to own the natural resources of poor countries.
stop selling them weapons
stop sanctioning countries every time they don't want to follow your rules


those are all my ideas but i know it's not at all realistic.

[Thorn777]

kill all poor people

[Grimecraft]

One Hammer
One Sickle

done.

[Col. Tartleton]

End protectionism in all forms.

[The Last Varangian]

End protectionism in all forms.

And we have a winner.

[Vítor Gaspar]

End protectionism in all forms.

Because that was precisely what helped Asia (South Korea, Japan) in its boom. And the wild free market works so well.

[Ciciro]

That's easy, eliminate the poor countries.

[The Last Varangian]

That's easy, eliminate the poor countries.

And now a loser!

[Squiggle]

If you want to increase living standards theres only one solution, no matter the time or place: Free market, small Government.

[The Last Varangian]

If you want to increase living standards theres only one solution, no matter the time or place: Free market, small Government.

And absolutist thinking. All the time. No matter what.

[Himster]

Anarchy/small government.
Take the aid from the poor and they have to survive on their own or die, either way: problem solved.
Fortunately/unfortunately human empathy stops this from happening.

[Enemy of the State]

Nothing hurts poor countries more than protectionism. Get rid of agriculture subsidies in North America and Europe.

[I WUB PUGS]

Yeah, because my Bananas come from Illinois. Or do you mean I need to eat African fruit?

Also, in North America (USA as I assume you mean) we subsidize grain and that's mostly it. Fruits and vegetables get hardly any subsidies. Dairy, yes. Meat, some.

[Matthias]

Small poor countries have had small, almost non-existent governments and near-anarchy for most of human history, so that's not the answer. Next?

[Squiggle]

It sure as hell worked for Hong Kong and Britain in the 1800's. And what the hell is "wild" about voluntary cooperation? People must really scare you.

[Col. Tartleton]

If the whole world had grown up together we wouldn't have these problems. I mean there'd be poor people everywhere but it would be manageable. That isn't what happened, so some countries are still at earlier stages of development albeit they have access to modern technology.

America has phone land lines. Swathes of Africa does not. They didn't get the Memo, they waited for the cell phone.

[AqD]

If the whole world had grown up together we wouldn't have these problems. I mean there'd be poor people everywhere but it would be manageable. That isn't what happened, so some countries are still at earlier stages of development albeit they have access to modern technology.

Absolutely NOT - it would be far worse and completely unmanageable. Look at China as an example of that kind of "world".