May 15 2008
How You can get Rich from Exploiting the Poor!
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?
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!
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!?
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!?
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!
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
Steve N. Lee
(If you liked this post - its passion and philosophy - you’ll love my thriller ‘What if…?’ Check it out - please click here.)
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