Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Poverty ender?

Last night we were talking about poverty. There seems to be an idea circulating that if the U.S. and other well off countries donated a small percentage of their gdp to poor countries. It seems like a good Idea I just don't see it happening. And one of the real problems is corruption within the poor countries governments and other organizations. Everyone seems to need a cut.

We were discussing the Venezuelan Bank Crisis. Basically, all the banks were on the brink of failure so, the government came in and gave them bailout loans. The same day the banks recieved these bail-out loans they were transfered to offshore accounts. And 100's of bankers fled the country with millions of dollars. It's crazy.

There are too many people who have had too little and so when an oppurtunity comes where they can get something they take it. Even if that means by illegal means. In one of our classes we were discussing corruption in countries and they said that in El Salvador 40% of the rich have had cars stolen. It's just crazy.

So, getting back to the question. How do you eliminate poverty? It's hard. It's just so deep. Would donating 2% of the US's GDP really lead to the elimination of poverty? It's an Idea that many think is feasible. There are even many economist who think that it's feasible.

Time will tell.

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