All commodity goods should be distributed evenly across globe

[daenku32]

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/distractions.jpg

I was reading this news story about a leaking gasoline pipeline in Kenya that had exploded. Because it was around a slum area poor people were trying to recover some of the spilled gasoline for themselves, but ended up dead when it lit and exploded.

I understand that not all of us can have big houses, expensive cars, etc. But when it comes to commodities such as gasoline (and food), surely we have enough in the world to distribute them evenly to prevent this kind of tragedies.

Just sickening.

 

[McHrozni]

I understand that not all of us can have big houses, expensive cars, etc. But when it comes to commodities such as gasoline (and food), surely we have enough in the world to distribute them evenly to prevent this kind of tragedies.

Enough for everybody to take as much as they want? Nope.

McHrozni

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

Not everyone has equal wants to everything, nor equal needs even if you go by that metric. I am all for doing our best to assist other nations to move out of poverty. Rather than equal access to gasoline I would assume having alternatives for Kenyans would be better. Third world countries tend to use oils for home heating and cooking. A better option would be to help them erect power plants and modern electrical infrastructure to replace oil based heating/cooking. Or better yet, improved education and employment opportunities.

 

[McHrozni]

Not everyone has equal wants to everything, nor equal needs even if you go by that metric. I am all for doing our best to assist other nations to move out of poverty. Rather than equal access to gasoline I would assume having alternatives for Kenyans would be better. Third world countries tend to use oils for home heating and cooking. A better option would be to help them erect power plants and modern electrical infrastructure to replace oil based heating/cooking. Or better yet, improved education and employment opportunities.

Precisely. Such efforts, however, are usually decried as "cultural imperialism", "interference in internal affairs" or some other such nonsense by the very same people who decry the West for being the main contributor to their continued poverty.

McHrozni

 

[Skeptic]

daneku32 can give us all an example. According to most sources average global income is about $7000 a year.

He (she?) can refuse to live on more than $570 a month himself.

What say you, daneku32?

No?

Gee. What a surprise...

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

Precisely. Such efforts, however, are usually decried as "cultural imperialism", "interference in internal affairs" or some other such nonsense by the very same people who decry the West for being the main contributor to their continued poverty.

McHrozni

I know that some people say this but it appears to be rare in my experience. Among the liberal circles I frequent the idea of supporting education, infrastructure and internal market imporvements is usually not met with derision.

 

[roger]

That makes perfect sense. Let's send tons and tons of iron, gold, silver, etc to countries with no manufacturing base, and rape them of all the wood trees that they have, which might be their only valuable export. Wouldn't be long before they were all living in paradise.

Of course, a workaround would quickly be reached. The country with no need for iron could sell their rights to the supply to a country that did need it, etc. It'd almost be like a free market where people bid for and trade for what they really need. How unfortunate that we don't have anything like that now.

 

[Arcade22]

I understand that not all of us can have big houses, expensive cars, etc.

Exactly. Such luxury items must necessarily be restricted to politically reliable communist party functionaries and the nomenclatura.

But when it comes to commodities such as gasoline (and food), surely we have enough in the world to distribute them evenly to prevent this kind of tragedies.

Again, you're exactly right! I mean if we can't all eat lobster for dinner every single day then at least we can share a bowl of gruel together in an equality driven utopia. It would be wonderful!

 

[McHrozni]

I know that some people say this but it appears to be rare in my experience. Among the liberal circles I frequent the idea of supporting education, infrastructure and internal market imporvements is usually not met with derision.

The opposition usually begins when the newly found employment means someone is making a *gasp* profit from their work, or when they find out they will have to study subjects that *gasp* challenge some of their sacred beliefs. For example that a certain 7th century schizophrenic wasn't the perfect human being or something like that.
The opposition usually amounts to "the country X during time Y was worse!".

McHrozni

 

[Skeptic]

The opposition usually amounts to "the country X during time Y was worse!".

Which, nine times out of ten, isn't even true.

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

The opposition usually begins when the newly found employment means someone is making a *gasp* profit from their work, or when they find out they will have to study subjects that *gasp* challenge some of their sacred beliefs. For example that a certain 7th century schizophrenic wasn't the perfect human being or something like that.
The opposition usually amounts to "the country X during time Y was worse!".

McHrozni

I would think that just going in and teaching that would be pretty counter to the idea of improving conditions in these countries. For one thing, Kenya is dominantly Christian so we should be teaching that some 1st century fan fiction writer with epilepsy was not accurate in his hallucinations of the divine if we want to be relevent. Going in and teaching that a religious minority is wrong and irrational seems more likely to cause problems. I wouldn't think going in to Russia and going on about how the Jews are irrational and wrong in their faith would fix major economic problems in Russia. Also I think teaching skepticism in general and critical thinking skills is more important than just coming in and saying the local majority religion is definitely wrong stop being religious. In reality I think more basic educational programs would be more useful. Religious observance decline does not need to be the outright goal of such programs as it tends to be a side effect of improving conditions anyway. Education about improved agriculture, infrastrcuture, democratic and liberty ideals, ect ect ect are more the areas I would focus on. Which does not mean avoiding major problems defended through religious means. I agree with confronting Middle Eastern countries on treatment of religious minorities, treatment of women, mutilation and corporal punishments, ect ect.

 

[daenku32]

daneku32 can give us all an example. According to most sources average global income is about $7000 a year.

He (she?) can refuse to live on more than $570 a month himself.

What say you, daneku32?

No?

Gee. What a surprise...

The average income would sky rocket if basic resources were divided more evenly because it would lead to massive growth in the poor countries.

 

[Skeptic]

The average income would sky rocket if basic resources were divided more evenly because it would lead to massive growth in the poor countries.

Sure, sure.

Quite a convenient excuse, isn't it?

 

[Arcade22]

The average income would sky rocket if basic resources were divided more evenly because it would lead to massive growth in the poor countries.

Yeah, because there are no natural resources in Africa right now.

 

[McHrozni]

I would think that just going in and teaching that would be pretty counter to the idea of improving conditions in these countries. For one thing, Kenya is dominantly Christian so we should be teaching that some 1st century fan fiction writer with epilepsy was not accurate in his hallucinations of the divine if we want to be relevent.

Yes, it would be slightly different in Kenya. In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia ... and a whole host of other countries, which are for the most part far more relevant for this topic, my version was way better.
I used Islam as example mainly because we just discussed the quality of education in Islamic world, and it's way worse than I imagined (and I imagined it as rather bad as it was).

Also I think teaching skepticism in general and critical thinking skills is more important than just coming in and saying the local majority religion is definitely wrong stop being religious.

Which is not what I was saying anyway.

Education about improved agriculture, infrastrcuture, democratic and liberty ideals, ect ect ect are more the areas I would focus on.

Many of these are incompatible with much of the contemporary Islam, but not Christianity, another reason for my choice of the example.

I noticed you ignored the point about someone else benefiting from employment completely. Do you agree with it?

McHrozni

 

[dtugg]

Who is going to do this distribution? I say no thank you to some international commie government. Thankfully, the USA has enough nuclear weapons that nobody could ever force us to go along with it.

 

[Virus]

The average income would sky rocket if basic resources were divided more evenly because it would lead to massive growth in the poor countries.

Under your plan, Africa would be giving up its abundant oil, gas and ore to Western Europe.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Under your plan, Africa would be giving up its abundant oil, gas and ore to Western Europe.

You just exposed his evil plan.

Spoilsport.

 

[Toke]

What is that link doing in the OP?

Anyway, that incident is nothing unusual.
They have pipelines in Nigeria too, somebody knock a hole, people gather to fill buckets and sell at the highway. All is fine until somebody wants a smoke in the middle of the petrol lake.

Distributing goods around the globe have had mixed success.
In Somalia the farmers have been bankrupted several years in a row by distribution of free food, I assume it have happened elsewhere too.

 

[Virus]

I like his plan. Saudi Arabia can cough up all their oil to Australia so I don't have to fund an Islamic Madrassah when I fill up my tank.