May 15 2008

How You can get Rich from Exploiting the Poor!

Published by Steve N. Lee at 7:09 pm under globalization, human rights, poverty

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There’s a killing to be made from exploiting the poor, but how can you grab your share before big businesses and governments snatch it all?

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President Bush recently requested another $70 billion to fund the campaign in Iraq. Was Saddam a monster? Were there WMDs? Links to Al-Qaeda? Was it all about oil…? All excellent questions, but isn’t the question - Can’t $70 billion be better spent?

I don’t know about you but I like to fritter my hard-earned cash away on little luxuries like, oh, I don’t know, food, shelter, heating… So thanks to this voracious ‘shopping’ addiction of mine, it’s possible I’ll never see $70 billion in my bank account.

Of course, it might be different for you - the average wage in the U.S. is around $40,000 so you could see $70 billion in your account in just 1.75 million years.

Still, just in case you retire before you hit that landmark, here’s what $70 billion actually looks like - $70,000,000,000.00

Yep, that’s a whole lot of zeroes!

So, back to ‘the’ question - what could you spend all those zeroes on if not on killing people?

Well, the average movie costs around $100 million so how about 700 summer blockbusters?! I just can’t get enough substandard sequels or dreary remakes, so let the good times roll!

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Or how about a new public holiday? Forget Christmas, Earth Day, Easter. Let’s celebrate the true meaning of life, the universe, and everything - McDonald’s Day! Every May 15th every American man, woman and child gets a free Big Mac, fries and shake. Budgeting a mere $3 billion for the day, the interest on the remaining balance would pay for McDonald’s Day forever! FOREVER! Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it!?

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Okay, maybe movies and macs don’t rock your world. OKay, so we organize a lottery with a dream prize going to one in ten of the adult population. What’s the dream prize? Well, the lucky 20,000 people get the cosmetic surgery of their choice! Yep, $3500 to blow on that perfect smile, that perfect cleavage, or that perfect penis! Dreams never come true, huh!?

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Now it’s possible there are still a few odd balls out there who aren’t craving ‘Police Academy 128′, as many free fries as you can eat, or even a penis to make King Kong jealous. So, for the losers who don’t know a good thing when they see it, how about a fourth choice?

Well, it’s scraping the bottom of the ideas barrel but I suppose, if nothing else suits, you could blow the lot on… well - and this is really out there - how about, er, helping people?

How?

End poverty!

Yeah, I know - a dumb idea. Who the hell wants to blow all that cash on total strangers when they could have a mound in their pants like a relief map of the Himalayas?

There are over ONE BILLION people living on just $1 a day. No, that’s not a typo - ONE DOLLER per day!

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Imagine that. I bet you can’t!

So, where’s that leave us on that ‘what could we do with $70 billion’ question? Well, we could try re-wording it. How about -

  • How many wells could we dig with $70 billion?
  • How many water filters could we install?
  • How many doctors could we employ?
  • How many schools could we open?
  • How many clinics could we build?

The list goes on…

But that takes us into a whole other area - the old ‘give a man a fish/teach a man to fish’ scenario.

Now, I’m no economics guru, but there is research that suggests as little as $60 billion could end poverty forever. Forever! And that’s not $60 billion this year, next year, and the year after, either. No, just a one-off payment.

From experience, the experts say just $200 is enough to see a poverty-stricken family lift itself out of poverty and build a life, a future.

Yeah, I know. $200? No Way!

Well, when you’re used to surviving on just $1 then 200 times that is like winning the lottery.

Think about it. If the average U.S. wage is $40,000, before tax, the average adult has an income of around $100 a day. Now, imagine if someone suddenly gave you a tax-free gift of 200 times that - $20,000. Wouldn’t that be life changing?

So, that’s kind of what $200 is like when you are used to just $1!

And that’s how you end poverty. Give the poorest families in the world the wherewithal to feed, shelter, clothe themselves and become totally self-sustaining.

(Two minor technicalities are ensuring the money goes where it should and is spent on what it should be. But, hey, like that’s the only thing holding us back!)

Of course there’ll be many people crying blue murder at this point - why in hell should our taxes go to help a load of foreigners when $70 billion could cure so many of America’s home-grown problems?

A fair comment.

But it’s missing the bigger picture totally.

See, the U.S. gives around $25 billion dollars in foreign aid every year. Now, if poverty was eradicated, which in turn would create societies that could fight their own injustices, diseases, disasters, just think how much of that money could be spent on, oh, I don’t know… U.S. education, U.S. health, U.S. poor, U.S. elderly… Yep, rid the world of poverty and suddenly everyone’s a winner!

Oh, and get this - if it only costs $60 billion to end poverty and we’ve got $70 billion… Yep, you’re way ahead of me, aren’t you? We can do it! We can have a McDonald’s Day!

So, what’s it to be? ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 68′? A bigger wiener? A world in which everyone, EVERYONE, including you and I, leads a happier, healthier, wealthier life!?

So go. See. Feel. Live.
Steve

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If you like my blog - the style, the passion, the philosophy - you’ll absolutely love ‘What if…?’, my suspense thriller. What’s it about?

When a mysterious stranger fights to end world poverty, his seeming ability to heal with just a touch catapults him to fame but thrusts him into a deadly struggle with corporate America and the White House that like the world just the way it is: under their control - poverty, disease, wars and all.

But can the stranger heal? Or is he the biggest villain of all, perpetrating the most elaborate scam of all time?

Is it any good?

‘An engaging and exciting thriller with a difference. It would hold its own with many of the books in the bestseller lists - and then some.’
Scott Pack, Book Reviewer, Me and My Big Mouth

‘”What if…?” is virtually flawless - Lee’s vision is precise, poetic, and skillfully crafted. It’s great writing with a great story, very well told.’
Nicholas Grabowsky, Bestselling Novelist

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25 Responses to “How You can get Rich from Exploiting the Poor!”

  1. Terrie WNo Gravataron 16 May 2008 at 3:11 pm

    Steve…I am so in love with your brain! Another excellent post!

    Sad, isn’t it, that sheeple would rather spend that obscene amount of money on anything and everything BUT what it could and should be used for. Think of it, just 70 billion to eradicate global poverty once and for all. IT CAN BE DONE! So, why hasn’t it?

    Why?

    The word ’subjugation’ comes to my mind. Social Darwinism is another that comes to mind. So do…ignorance, intolerance, indifference, ENSLAVEMENT, fear…the list could become endless. But these are few that come to mind.

    Where would the rich and powerful be if the rest of the world–ALL of the world were ‘comfortable’. It is threatening to them if everyone on the face of this planet suddenly became ‘emancipated from poverty’. Threatening to them on so many levels.

    Emancipated…

    Poverty is a form of slavery.

    There are so many human ills that so little money could eradicate. I say ‘little’ because look at the amount of money over the decades that has been given. TRILLIONS. And the problems still persist. Why? Two words come to mind for that why….

    Greed and corruption.

    Which takes us back to the first why. The puppetmasters do not want the strings cut on their puppets. The puppets might then become the masters of their own fates and that upsets the rich and powerful.

    That 70 billion would have to be placed into the hands of the people directly–NOT through their governments, not through so-called NGO’s and not through government propjobs called the World Bank or International Monetary Fund. A direct handing over of money to each and every family, each and every man or woman. That is the only way to ensure that everyone received what they should have.

    It is a dream I have….

    T

  2. Ron GreeneNo Gravataron 16 May 2008 at 7:48 pm

    Steve,

    Sometimes life can be quite simple when put into simple terms of
    relative understanding(s).

    Let us put our collective energies, or… when one might spend a few
    moments, into the feeling of eliminating materialistic nonsense. Let’s
    concentrate, instead, on our ultimate riches… support of human kind.

    … best always and thanks for your richness Steve… I’ll do my part.

    Ron-
    http://www.MusicDials.com

  3. HankaNo Gravataron 17 May 2008 at 1:22 pm

    It is not true that we are just one species. In my opinion there are two: humans and people. Humans come from animals, the better part of evolution; people come from civilisation, the worst part. I hope, I am a human to be able to do my part too.

  4. Steve N. LeeNo Gravataron 18 May 2008 at 12:06 pm

    If anyone doesn’t believe greed and corruption are a problem, let them turn their gaze eastward, huh, Terrie? Let them see what the Junta are doing in Burma. There are rumours that aid packages containing good food is going missing while spoiled food is being handed out to the starving. If only that was an isolated incident. Great points, Terrie.

    Hanka - yeah, I know where you’re coming from. There is no evil in the world just so as long as you take mankind out of the equation!

    You’re right, Ron - things can be very simple. It’s a pity we seem to revel in making everything so incredibly complicated.

    Thanks for the great comments, guys.
    Steve

  5. DianeMarieNo Gravataron 18 May 2008 at 8:39 pm

    Another great blog! I am one of those who believes poverty could be taken care of now! Just one problem, too many greedy, corrupt people out there who will not give up there “lifestyles of the rich and shameless”..who don’t give a damn about anyone but them selves! Everyone has to play a part in this or it will not work…Now, how do you do that? I don’t see it happening…The world had grown cold, uncaring and self-centered..Do I sound angry? It’s because I am, I am tired, sad, p**ed -off at the way we treat others, with no regard for life or respect! What have we become?

    I guess I can always HOPE!

  6. ArletteNo Gravataron 19 May 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Thank you Steve
    GREAT POST (as usual !)
    It is so simple and therefore so difficult ?
    We are taking part of this misery, not paying the “right price” for what we buy. Fairetrade !!!!

  7. Gorilly GirlNo Gravataron 19 May 2008 at 7:25 pm

    Oh goodness Steve what a read…But so sad.

  8. Sandra CarrNo Gravataron 19 May 2008 at 7:35 pm

    That is a wonderful blog. Why doesn’t the USA do that? Why spend a fraction of it to fail, when the whole amount would entirely solve the world-wide problem?

  9. Marena ChenNo Gravataron 19 May 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Are you a mind reader Steve? Been arguing along those lines with people for years - only in the context of obscene individual wealth in my country and entities like the roman catholic church for instance (which is hoarding unimagineable wealth). There should by rights be no poverty anywhere in the world if individuals as well as those entities and the governments of the world would channel just a fraction of what they hoard and waste of frivolities into a fund to save the peoples of this world from starvation and death and give them the chance to live dignified and healthy lives. I know your story is aimed at “what could be” if the US…… so please forgive me for my rambling and flag as inappropriate if I’ve transgressed.

  10. NotSilentNo Gravataron 19 May 2008 at 11:36 pm

    Thanks for the post here.

    You can put in your city or state at this place below and see what the cost of the Iraq war could have paid for.

    http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

    Just go there and look over on the right (after you throw up from looking at the real time counter) and click on “Cost of War”

    Peace

  11. LeeNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 12:32 am

    Steve, congrats! Another great blog. DianeMarie, I am like you, pissed off, tired, sad, frustrated, disgusted, at the end of my rope with the governments of this world and the obscene waste of money fighting useless wars. Will it ever end? I doubt it. Just look at Burma and how that Junta gets away with killing their own peoples by not giving them the aid they need. Look at the trillions of $$$ given by the world over the past 50 years or so, to the poor in Asia, Africa, South America etc. Are these people any better off? Nope, my guess is they are worse off. Why? Because of corrupt governments and companies. I have long ago stopped giving to big charities. I don’t trust that my $$ will ever see the inside of an empty stomach. I give food and money to peoples I know. I can see that my money is feeding someone. I knit my heart out for local hospitals and kids.
    I have even knit for the Armed Forces of Canada but have stopped because their need is not as great. We the taxpayers supply them with everything they need anyways. There are literally millions of peoples like me giving of themselves and their money and the world is still a mess. What’s wrong with that picture?

  12. kim sNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 7:07 am

    Steve, your suggestion is welcomed by all who feel they are their brothers keeper, unfortunately those who are in power don’t view our responsibility to our less fortunate brothers and sisters as we do and they would NEVER entertain the idea of helping others! (unless there was a profit to be made)
    It is a disgrace to humankind when a segment of the population lives as kings while others struggle to live life on a daily basis. I’d rather live a life which is simpler, allowing for someone else to have just a bit more, rather than live my life in luxury and rob a family of the basic necessities.
    But then I’ve always been a dreamer…
    Thanx Steve for the opportunity to examine my own ethics on poverty and power.

    You know there really is still a chance for peace and that chance will definitely increase if we each do our piece. So let’s make peace — in our homes, in our own hearts, in our relationships, in our communities, in all of our dealings and in the world. Peace be with us all.

  13. avril kNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 8:01 am

    Thanks Steve good reading, in this day and age why can`t it happen
    there is no reason for it not to, its so sad.

  14. Robyn M.No Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 2:11 pm

    You are a thought provoking man Steve :-) Yes, I have thought along similar lines since I was a kid. It’s disappointing that the ones who could actually make a really big difference would rather spend their time and money on different ways of killing each other, of causing enormous environmental damage, of keeping the down trodden down, etc.
    Such a self orientated world these powerful ones live in. They are so out of touch with what is the reality of the starving, poor etc.
    I think you’ll find with some of them, it has never even occurred to them that they could make a difference to someone other than themselves.
    Funny, you’d think with all that money and influence, they would’ve figured out by now that you can’t take it with you when you go.

  15. patricia lasekNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 2:48 pm

    Great blog, Steve. You’ve hit the nail on the head. I do enjoy reading your posts. Keep up the good work!

  16. Steve N. LeeNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks, Robyn. Yes, it’s strange that those with the power to actually change the world - today - don’t seem to ever want to use that power. Give them seven bucks to live on for a week and somehow I think they might change their tune. But then, like they’d ever accept a challenge like that.

    Why can’t it happen in deed, Avril? Well, except for all the greed, power, corruption… Sad, yes.

    You’re completely right, Kim - it’s criminal that there are so many kings and yet so many billions of paupers. Why do people want so much ’stuff’ in their lives? I know they believe it will make them happy, but when they don’t find life as satisfying as they’d imagined, then why don’t they ever, just for one moment, consider that buying all the crap they do might have something to do with it and that giving for a change might actually give them the fulfilment they are craving so?

    Ania, my partner, is with you on the old giving to charity question, Lee. She wanted to donate something to those poor people in Burma but didn’t simply because she was sure it would end up in some jerk’s pocket, not in the mouth of someone who hadn’t eaten for days. What’s the world coming to when you’re afraid to give because you fear you’re adding to the problem instead of helping?

    Don’t worry, Marena, intelligent comments are ALWAYS welcome, even if they veer off track a little, though I don’t think yours does. It’s a valid point - the pope sitting on his piles of gold preaching hid ‘do unto others’ crap.

    Sandra - you’re guess is as good as mine. When it’s so blatantly obvious that a little every year does hardly anything, why not have an all out offensive on poverty, one big push, to end it in one fell swoop? The logistics would be horrendous, but the benefits, for everyone,
    would be incredible.

    Thanks, Gorilly Girl, Yes, it’s very sad. What’s even sadder is what future generations will make of us for doing this to our own kind.

    Arlette, yes FairTrade is a start, but it doesn’t help enough people quickly enough. Plus, the store’s own brand of coffee in my local supermarket is half the price of FairTrade, so you can guess which many people buy. But that’s only a fraction of what we could do, should do, isn’t it? If only there was a simply solution staring us in the face…

    Thanks. Patricia. I’m sure I’m not the first to say such things, and unfortunately, I definitely won’t be the last, but you have to try, don’t you, even though you know you’re beating your head against a wall.

    DianeMarie, I’m sure there are millions of people who echo your sentiments. It’s such a shame that in the coming elections they don’t appear to have anyone to voice their concerns on the world’s stage for whom they could vote. And big business is hardly going to monitor itself and shave off a little profit to pay a decent price for its out-sourcing/imports - how could all those execs ever afford BMWs, exotic vacations, beach homes… My, they’d have to live like the rest of us. Can you imagine?! The shame future generations would throw at us for allowing our ‘leaders’ to live in such sqalor! Hell, I feel like going and buying some designer clothes right now to ensure that doesn’t happen!

    Thanks, you guys. Great comments, great contribution, as usual.
    Steve

  17. Susan LNo Gravataron 20 May 2008 at 6:28 pm

    Good read. Thanks Steve. There will always be those that have and those that have not.

  18. RhiannonNo Gravataron 21 May 2008 at 3:37 am

    Great Post!!!! its a 10…I am sorry to say the government that run this country would rather fund a war, act hypocritical and send it overseas..which benefits those with stocks in certain industries. They would be much better off to take care of the many elderly, disable, families struggling to stay together…the list is so long of things that could really benefit those who are in need in the USA. I am a firm believer that you take care of your own ‘yard’ before you race over to your neighbors yard and tell them how to ‘fix’ it up. The day no American citizen has to make a choice between food, medication, heat or air, then we can in all good faith help others. I have empathy for all who suffer. But as an American, I feel the taxpayers really expect their dollars to be used to help right the wrongs in the United States first and foremost. Of course, thats just my opinion.
    Great write up, Steve.
    Hugs!

  19. yushunNo Gravataron 21 May 2008 at 4:33 am

    Great article!Thank you!
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  20. TomekNo Gravataron 21 May 2008 at 5:22 am

    Actually, I beg to differ on this one. I don’t believe that you can lift 1 billion people out of poverty “forever” with $70 billion. International aid to Africa is more than that (yearly), and it doesn’t seem to do much. I think that the best hope for the poor in this world actually lies in globalization. Globalization has already lifted half of humanity from poverty in less than 2 generations, and for the first time we are looking at a world where there is more people living in developed countries than non-developed ones. This means two things: 1- inflation will appear as we run out of cheap labor and resources (basically the resources that we have not been able to share because of our lack of generosity, inflation will make us share them with other countries, whether we agree with it or not) 2- globalization will accelerate and lift the remaining countries out of poverty even faster than before, because cheap labor will be even more attractive for businesses as we are running out of it. So I think that free trade has and will do more to help the poor, than any form of charity. Just my 2 cents.. Cheers!

  21. DeniseNo Gravataron 21 May 2008 at 5:54 am

    God, I LOVE your articles! Couldn’t have said it better myself! Just when I think I’m alone in thinking this way…here you come along & post an article about it!

  22. Steve N. LeeNo Gravataron 22 May 2008 at 7:03 pm

    Intelligent remarks, whether positive or negative, are always welcome, Tomec. Yes, international aid is an incredible amount, but if it doesn’t get to the right people, then it’s wasted. The idea here is that the money actually gets into the hands of the poorest people on the planet who can then claw their own way out without further help from us. It’s the old give a man a fish/teach a man to fish principle. The bank actually doing this now, achieves just what it says - lends people tiny amounts of money by our standards which are yet huge enough to them for it to be life-changing. The difference is the bank charges interest. How much easier would it be if the money was given freely?

    Thanks, Susan. Good point, but it’s not how much we all have but the gap between those who have a lot and those who have very little that matters.

    Good points, Rhiannon, but by helping those in extreme poverty we will ultimately be helping ourselves. It’s simply a case of wanting something now or wanting even more later.

    Thanks for such valuable contributions,
    Steve

  23. AndreaNo Gravataron 25 May 2008 at 8:38 pm

    Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day - teach a man to fish and you feed him for life!
    I would actually prefer to continue:…teach a man to make a fishing rod and you give him the means for a life without being dependend on aid.
    You know thats what we are trying to do in westafrica - and we will stop poverty!

    Love your blog, Steve!

  24. LissaNo Gravataron 12 Jun 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Sorry, Steve! You’re only half right. All of your ideas for world changing are right on the mark, but you’ve missed the mark on the Iraq situation. Far from being about “killing people,” it was, and still is, about helping to restore to normalcy, a population of which 55% were under the age of 15, and which had suffered for years under conditions of state-promoted terror and death at the hands of one of history’s most tyrannical families. With all that has been written of atrocities allowed to be wrought against children, the weak and the elderly of the past, could we, CAN we really stand by as newly freed, but still needy, young and aged persons of the present are left to fend for themselves in conditions often only beginning to feature the most basic elements of order and sanitation. As a disabled person with insufficient income to support the very basic needs of my own child, I must still raise my voice and encourage Americans to continue supporting the world’s children in Iraq!!

  25. Steve N. LeeNo Gravataron 19 Jun 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Hi Lissa,

    Of course you’re right - those specific billions of dollars aren’t to kill people in Iraq but to try to establish a stable society.

    But my posts should never be read on face value - the underlying idea is that we spend far more money on killing people (military) than we do on helping people (aid). I dread to think what the more enlightened generations to come will make of that - assuming we don’t wipe ourselves out before we evolve to such a state.

    I’m sorry to hear you are struggling yourself. The British government has just dealt a major blow to the poorest people here by abolishing the lowest level of tax. Millions are worse off - and it’s the poorest of course, not those dripping in Gucci as they step from their Porsches.

    Thanks for contributing, Lissa. Hope we see you back here with more intelligent observations.

    Steve

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