Why is there somebody starving to death right now?

[johnbears]

While there are millions of people worldwide starving at this very minute, many of us live a good life. Do you think it is destiny or are you lucky to be in this position. Do you consider yourself responsible for the way the world is right now?...Can you change the world for the better?
Is there anyone in here who has a concious about that and sometimes thinks about this kind of stuff?

[akula]

sure...

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, has a listing of well over 55,000 issues that face humanity - including health problems, poverty and things like lack of trasport infrastructure and unavailability of retirement savings.

The world has a lot of problems, and they're not limited to famine.

Personally, if I could legislate in this area, I would make it a law that founders must stop setting up useless ventures, and focus on solving real problems like unavailability of housing in developing countries.

Do I identify these opportunities because of some moral high ground? Of course not. I believe it is the duty of entrepreneurs to find profitable ways to solve these problems. I subscribe to liberal, neo-classical economics and believe that by acting in selfish self interests, entrepreneurs create maximum benefits for the society as a whole. Do problems happen? Yes! But that's the best system we've got.

In other words, if anyone here is concerned about world hunger, or the other 55,000 problems in the world - my hope is that everyone here can find extraordinary profitable ways to solve these problems - for no other reason but to make money.

The social responsibility of business is to make money.

[akula]

as a side note, I will point out an important issue

in finding ways to solve socio-economic problems, the very people who campaign for these problems to be solved, end up opposing the solution because they don't agree with capitalistic methods

for example: in Africa, they want to protect endangered lions from poachers for the befit of future generations.

to solve this problem, African entrepreneurs have privatised certain parts of the serengeti and then have bred lions to have them killed during hunting safaris

Now...this solution is saving wildlife by catering to a need that would otherwise be satisfied by poachers, and yet, there's a lot of opposition to it.

Same happens with all other issues like pollution and famine, where the eradication of these problems must involve a) resources being privatised and b) people making profits

this creates a lot of tension

[johnbears]

"Capitalism is the worst system ever, but there is no better" Don't remember who said this but it is quite true. Just imagine you were born and remain stupid just because that's how you are, what life would you have in a capitalistic world that punished the weak and stupid one? Cleaning bathrooms all day all life?


What do you guys think is the world's biggest problems?

I think population growth is extremely dangerous. In the simplest sense, the more people there are, the less each of us will get from the pie. My point is, right now there are 6 billion people in the world and since resources are scarce not every body will have a good life. However, if there were only 1 billion people maybe everyone would have enough food, a car, a house, a job, etc.

[akula]

"Capitalism is the worst system ever, but there is no better" Don't remember who said this but it is quite true. Just imagine you were born and remain stupid just because that's how you are, what life would you have in a capitalistic world that punished the weak and stupid one? Cleaning bathrooms all day all life?

An interesting point that deserves a reflection.

This populists quote that "Capitalism is the worst system ever, but there is no better" because capitalism somehow restricts liberty for the disadvantaged, is often left under-analysed. Of course, this perspective is idealistic more than empirical in nature, because it is capitalism it self which is the system that's supposed to create the most opportunities for the hypothetical "born stupid" person. Capitalism doesn't seek to punish anybody but merely allocate resources and opportunity to where it is most productive. Whether certain people abuse this liberty and create barriers to entry for others - is a matter of law rather than ideology, which highlights the real problem with capitalism.

The problem with capitalism is not the ideology, but the legal system that we use to practice capitalism. Specifically, the current laws that we have, preclude company directors from acting in the interests of non shareholders.

For example, when "do gooders" infringe the patent rights of pharmaceutical companies to sell cheap retro-viral drugs in Nigeria, directors of pharaceutical companies can't turn a blind eye to their lost profits because they'd get sued by the shareholders. Similarly with McDonald's and withdrawing the BigMac from sale because it's a potential poisonous substance - the directors can't do it because that would be illegal pursuant to corporate law. Of course, things are also a lot less dramatic, where in the case of a large corporate takeover, the directors can't refuse a good offer, even if they know that the acquirer is a raider who'll retrench all the local employees and move jobs to India.

Is it fair that American employees should be fired because they're uncompetitive compared to Indians? Is this the evil of capitalism? Sure, you could say that, but more precisely, the problem is corporate law legislation which would hold the directors liable if they refuse the offer and put the interests of employees before the interests of the shareholders.

Overall, if some one is not happy with capitalism, the inherent problem that they should be aware of is not capitalism it self but s181 of the Corporations Act or the local equivalent which codifies the principle of shareholder primacy.

It's not capitalism that's the problem, it's legislation.

[The Stealthy One]

Moved to Lounge. Next time, please remember to post in the correct place.

[davep]

I don't think population should be considered the main problem.
There could be 10 people in the world, and 3 could be middle class 2 super rich and 5 starving to death.

davep

[NeeJam]

People are starving ot death because of fraud etc in there country by the richer people in that country.

Yes there are people who are millionaires in the poor countries who don't help because they are looking out for themselves and frauding etc at the same time.

Nigeria is number 1 most fraudulent country in the world and becuase of this they recieve no aid at all but if they made their country not as bad as it is - which is easy to do - all the political leaders just stop their fraudlent ways then they will get aid etc.

[Sam Barona]

The problems discussed in here go much deeper than capitalism as a system, or population explosions, which in the case of China and India have created more opportunities and wealth, not less.

I refer to Chomsky when I say that it is more to do with goverments and their manipulation of resources and the capitalist system. The capitalist system is/shouls be one that is intrinsically elitist, but not in terms of just favouring social elites, but rather in favour of anyone who is driven to contribute to the system with something that others within the system need/want.

There are also further complications in terms of the divide between developing countries and the developed ones; for example, I worked in the Pharma industry where I saw many of my clients working on cures for AIDS not receiving the funding they needed because the bulk of that business would come from third world countries where they cant afford to pay the substantial sums the Pharma companies require to recoup their R&D investments. Thus, I saw other projects receiving more funding, projects that included research into nano-based anti ageing compounds and otehr "life style" drugs that are more appealing to the wealthier western econimies.

You also have anti competitive programmes devised by the G8 that prevent developing economies from growing, like price barons in produce like sugar, cocoa, coffee, iron, diamonds and other natural resources that are more abundant in developing countries. Why is it that the best chocolates come from Belgium or Switzerland when neither of these produces cocoa? why is it that Nescafe sells more in Colombia (5 times the price) where you can buy cheaper and higher quality coffeee? or why is it that certain iron exporting countries can export iron ore, but not steel under WTO rules?

It is simply that western countries have a responsibility to their shareholders (their voters) to protect their economies against potential competitors (3rd world countries), thus, creating barriers to trade, so that these countries cant develop the infrastructure needed to produce products ready for mass consumption. THese countries are then pushed to export their natural resources to the west, where they are turned into commercial products (iron ore into steel, coffee and cocoa beans into Nescafe and chocolates, respetively, etc) and then force these nations to import these fiished products at massive premiums.

Its all about global money flows and the west will do their best so that the flow of money goes into their companies and not their competitors in the thirld world.

Yes, countries like Nigeria are full of fraudsters, and in Colombia you have narco trafficants, but ask your selves this; why is it like this?

Its because the economies in these countries, which are controlled by the west limit their options to the extent that, unlike you or I, if they want to get ahead, they need to do something illegal, where as you or I can think about setting up businesses, or earning an MBA to assist us on our way.

Dont take my workd on this, go and spend a year in any third world country and you will not be able to get away from the truth. People there are not criminals by default. In fact, you're likely to respect people in those countries more because they manage to do so much under such adverse realities.

Just my point of view, backed by Chomsky et al.

Sam

[Envydia]

Everyone can help. If everyone just gave one dollar over 300 million our population you figure out if we can do anything.

[Sam Barona]

Any of the economists on this site will also confirm the role that things like the economics of war have to play in these money flaws, and third world poverty.

Why is it that it was only the Bushes that declared war on countries like Afganistan and Iraq? Could it be that they have large vested interests in companies liek Halliburton that get all the contracts for rebuilding and supplying oil pipes and oil infrastrucure, or perhaps to do with Root & Brown, one of Halliburton's subsidiaries that specilises on the supply of uniforms and infrastrucure to the US millitary? Contracts worth Billions where won during and after both wars by both firms. Even Chenney was president at halliburton before becoming the Vice President (more appropraitely named President of Vice, considering Halliburtons Russian court cases where they were found importing Colombia's best into Russia using their pipes).

Capitalism does not work for the common good when governemnts send fools like me to die in the name of THEIR self interest in countries like Iraq.

I hope this opens a few eyes

Sam

[Sam Barona]

In order to help people first need to come to terms with the reality of things; take into account the things that governments are doing in "our" name, and put pressure to change this through our votes.

No easy task, but nothing worthwhile was ever easy.

Sam

[adrizzle]

It's not going to take money to feed everyone in Africa. It's going to take our governments caring and help. Everything from the world is at one point free at the very bottom of the chain. If people just worked and used their time for the people starving like farmers, the government, and pilots then we could feed all of them. The farmers could use their time to get the food made after getting the gas and plants at the very bottom for free. Then the government could make this happen and then the pilots could use their time to fly it over there to help. It's just no one wants to help. We all know how much Mcdonalds throw a way a day. There is never not enough food just the time and people wanting to help.

[adrizzle]

It's not going to take money to feed everyone in Africa. It's going to take our governments caring and help. Everything from the world is at one point free at the very bottom of the chain. If people just worked and used their time for the people starving like farmers, the government, and pilots then we could feed all of them. The farmers could use their time to get the food made after getting the gas and plants at the very bottom for free. Then the government could make this happen and then the pilots could use their time to fly it over there to help. It's just no one wants to help. We all know how much Mcdonalds throw a way a day. There is never not enough food just the time and people wanting to help.

[Sam Barona]

It's just no one wants to help. We all know how much Mcdonalds throw a way a day. There is never not enough food just the time and people wanting to help.

For those of you who perhaps are too young to remember the debate about subsidies in the 80s; the UK, just like Germany, the US and most wealthier nations had, and still have, mountains of cheese, lakes of milk, etc of produce that they would rather go to waste than release it into the world for better use.

The reason? Money flows; like mentioned earlier. Farmers in the west are highly subsidised by their governments because they know that, due to the standard of living in their countries, costs like labour are much higher than in poorer countries. THus, the reality is that, despite much better production technologies, it is cheaper to import beef from Argentina, or milk from Brazil than to produce it in the west. This would, of course, mean tow core things; farmer industries in the west would go bust and money flow would go in favour of poorer countries (where, even if prices are fixed as they generally are in favour of the west) the farmers would be able to make a living, instead of having to grow illegal crops that are the only ones that make sufficient income for their families to live a reasonable life, but which would be substandard in any western nation, as things like schooling and dentists are a viewed as a luxury, not as a necessity (never mind a right).

As I said earlier, the problem is far more deep rutted and in order for any change to take place, the solution needs to go as deep as the deepest root of the problem.

Sam