Wednesday 13 January 2016

(Bonus) Quote of the Day: What causes poverty?

 

“What causes poverty? Nothing. It’s the original
state, the default and starting point. The real
question is, what causes prosperity?”

~ Per Bylund

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7 comments:

Don W said...

What causes poverty?. Controlling gov't's that take the life's blood of people through compulsory taxes and then hands it back through welfare to those that can't be bothered.

Angry Tory said...

Welfare

(which in NZ includes so-called "education" "health care" "super" not to mention "roading" "railways" "doc" and pretty much everything

MarkT said...

True enough to some degree but I think you're missing the point. Prosperity is not a default state which welfare then ruins. Welfare is a modern invention, but poverty has been the norm for most of history. Poverty is the default state, and it's only rational and creative thinking, combined with a government that protects property rights that changes this.

MarkT said...

Incorrect. Welfare and all the things you mention can only exist in a relatively prosperous society to begin with. Just like a parasite that requires a healthy host. If anything welfare is a common symptom of prosperity - an undesirable one that weakens the impact of prosperity, but not a cause of poverty. There is no cause of poverty, it's the default state.

Angry Tory said...

Nope. In the default state, garden of eden, there are no riches and no poverty. If I have outdoor plumbing, am I poor? If I have a car, am I rich? Depends when: 1815 or 2015?

Poverty is caused simply by letting those who do not love themselves, or who do not love their children enough to feed them, to clothe them, house them etc. That is, in one word: welfare.

Stop the welfare, stop the charity, and the problem of poverty will be over within a month or two.

Perhaps you could argue crime also causes poverty, but a suitably armed and authorised police force and generally deal with that problem in the same amount of time.

MarkT said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MarkT said...

Angry Tory - Not sure the point you're trying to make here, but you seem to be assuming a very limited and convoluted definition of poverty. Poverty does not mean 'lack of material possessions (relative to others) caused by government'. It means destitution or lack of life's necessities by whatever cause. Without gov't if you sit on your arse and do nothing you will still suffer poverty.