The Kurgan Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I don't think feeling guilty over having a 1st world lifestyle does any good, but being aware of how the world economic system fleeces people from pole to pole is a good beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 I agree, but at some you have to accept the fact that the overpopulation of the world is going the generate inescapable misery for most of its inhabitants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kurgan Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 We should also strive to differentiate between "inescapable misery" that is inescapable vs that which occurs as a result of abuse of institutional power. While a standard of living typical of even a lower income westerner is not at present a realistic proposal for Chinese industrial laborers, some improvement is possible. More indicators are pointing to the super cheap labor gravy train on mainland China not being quite what it once was. Consider the mass (30 - 40,000 worker) strike at the Yue Yuen shoe factory - which makes a lot of shoes for Nike and Addidas, among others in Dongguan last spring, which resulted in many of the demands being met. This sort of thing happened here at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANA-kin Skywalker Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Well if it makes anyone feel better, in a few hundred years (maybe sooner) the US won't be a superpower anymore, if you compare it's birth-rate to that of the roman empire around it's "fall". I put fall in quotes because it didn't fall overnight, but the point is its theorized that countries with high birth rates of today eventually become the superpower of tomorrow. Essentially citizens of the rich countries want to hold on to their wealth, so the birth rate plummets as to avoid diluting inheritance value to the next generation to the point where the nation can't sustain itself and over time loses power or gets overrun by it's enemies. It happened to ancient Greece, the roman empire...and someday us. I guess what I'm trying to say is the poor nations you feel bad for now will probably outgrow and overpower us eventually. Ups and downs on the socio-economic cycle, and you hit the jackpot. Just be grateful you were born at the right place at the right time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driver Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I don;t know when, but I feel like the USA has a timeclock. We'll end up in some sort of financial crisis, a bankrupt country or some such thing that will require change-- be it other countries buying/aiding/acquiring us, or more likely, a fracture into smaller more self reliant countries. Then we can finally bomb the bible belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odine Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Few hundred years?? Pfft. It's already on the way out. I give it 50 years of being the número uno power. America is already losing it's power world wide and seems to be trying to grasp at what remains. Russia's rather flippant attitude to sanctions and anything Obama has to say speaks volumes I think. Unless some cataclysmic event happens which consolidates US power over the world, the inevitable slide is only gonna keep speeding up. Mind you I'm not educated on these matters and I'm going purely on instinct here, but from the viewpoint of Britain the glory days of the west are pretty much over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driver Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 You guys should have never given back India and Hong Kong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odine Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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