4 things you probably know about poverty that Bill and Melinda Gates don't

[polly7]

To fix global poverty, you first need to acknowledge where it comes from.

byMartin Kirk, Joe Brewer, Jason Hickel

Excerpts:

Poverty Fact #1: Poverty is made by people. It is not just part of nature

........ The Greek experience isn’t uncommon; it’s just that it has until recently been uncommon in the West. People across the global South have been on the receiving end of such policies for decades. In the past it was called "structural adjustment" and was spearheaded by the IMF and World Bank, with devastating consequences. They argued that, through aggressively pro-business measures like privatizing essential services and structuring economies so that debtors are paid off before the population is taken care of, they could kick start economies. Today, we call that agenda "austerity." The effects are the same. .........

Poverty Fact #2: History matters

......... Later, neoliberal policies—like the deregulation of capital markets, privatization of essential services, elimination of social and environmental protections, and a constant downward pressure on both corporate taxation and workers wages—were imposed across the global South, mostly by way of western-supported dictators and the structural adjustment we mentioned above. This turned into the biggest single cause of poverty in the 20th century, because it created both the incentives and the systems required—like tax havens—for wealth and power to be centralized in the hands of the elite. Today, the process of wealth extraction continues in the form of tax evasion, land grabs, debt service, and trade agreements rigged in the interests of the rich, a reverse flow of wealth that vastly outstrips the aid (the epitome of a small, technical fix) that trickles in the other direction. ..........

Poverty Fact #3: The "good news" story is premised on false accounting

....... It is a comforting story but unfortunately it is just not true. For a start, it all rests on The World Bank’s $1.25-a-day poverty line, which is insultingly low. The UN body UNCTAD has pointed out that anyone living on less than $5 a day is unable to achieve "a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing": the inalienable right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you use that figure, a soul-scorching 5.1 billion people, or 80% of humanity, are living in those conditions today. .........

Poverty Fact #4: Power matters

All of this is about politics and power. It’s a well-established truth that those with the money make the rules, usually in ways that serve their own interests. This is why 93 cents of every $1 made since the 2008 crash has gone to the 1%.

The Gates want us to believe that it’s possible to solve poverty without challenging the forms of power that caused it in the first place. It sounds nice, especially for rich people, but it’s a fairy tale. Solving poverty will require a fundamental reorganization of power away from the oligarchy and toward real, meaningful democracy. Any plan to end poverty that doesn’t put this front and center isn’t really a plan at all.

Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/02/03/4-things-you-probably-know-about-poverty-bill-and-melinda-gates-dont

[NYC_SKP]

1. This is partly why I don't want multi-millionaires in my white house.

They simply aren't connected no matter what they say.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. FDR was a multi-million ...

AND ... he did nothing to earn any of it.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Hillary Clinton is as far from FDR as a Democrat could possibly be.

How Bill and Hillary got their money is quite different from FDR.

It's hard to think of a more bankster-connected Super-PAC funded, outsourcing corporate insider than Hillary Clinton.

Just look at her top donors compared to Bernie Sanders:

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. But you said ...

This is partly why I don't want multi-millionaires in my white house.

FDR was a multi-millionaire ... the HRC trashing that you post here indicates that you just don't want HRC. That's fine ... just say it!

Stop trying to make this a stand against the 1% (FDR was a .0001%er) ... the multi-millionaire part is just to make it appear that it is a "principled" stance.

[polly7]

8. Isn't FDR dead?

How can he possibly affect anything happening today?

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Yes; but, isn't that a requirement for canonization? n/t

[polly7]

10. He's got piss all to do with this thread. nt.

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. Huh ...

I was talking about (a fantasy where) Bernie ran as a republican ... the other poster brought up the "anti-multi-millionaire" point ... I pointed out the BS of that narrative by pointing to (the mythical) FDR.

[polly7]

12. Well that's good.

I was hoping to get a bit more input on the article itself and what huge corporations and their owners/partners/shareholders/donor recipients, etc. are doing 'today' to affect the lives of billions when they ignore the true causes of poverty.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Well. I'm sorry to disappoint ...

I started the OP to comment on/ponder the benefit for all of the left is Bernie's message were to get out to republicans ... as a registered republican, thus, avoiding the reflexive republican anti-D stuff.

[polly7]

14. Yeah ok .......... maybe start your own thread on that. nt.

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. I thought I did ...

Perhaps, I should start my OPs with:

NOTE: This post IS NOT intended to be a slur of, or bash upon, Bernie Sanders.

[Diclotican]

16. 1StrongBlackMan

1StrongBlackMan

FDR was born into riches - and had not earning anything of it - but as politicals he worked hard for the poor - and pepole of color, after he ended up sick - and discovered when he was in a rehab facility - how horrible it was for people, that be of color or white, to be poor - and he used a lot of his personal assets to mend things - and as President he did more in 4 periods than maybe most presidents have been doing for all of US 230 years as a country - to at least mend some of the problems facing americas poor... (But of course, he could have been doing a lot more if he would - it is allways the issue I think)

It is a reason FDR is accepted as one of the best presidents of United States all over the world - and specially for the older generations, who got to know him - is respected and in many cases loved by them.. Even my foster father - who was political very to the left of center - had nothing than respect for the FDR - and he is the only US president who have getting a statue in a public room in Norway - in a little wooded lund - right in the shadows of Argus Fortress looking out to the west - to America.. And he was a great president - and a great friend of Norway - under WW2 - but also a great human in general. Compared to the ones who was before him - and the ones who came after him - a real human gig-ant in other words - even if conservatives even today resent him as pure poison...

Diclotican

[mother earth]

3. K & R, & a huge TY, polly7. There is no reason for poverty, it exists due to greed & ignorance. If

the day ever comes that we honor humanity it will end.

[polly7]

4. You're welcome, mother earth.

It's just all so simple, isn't it?

I wonder if those massively wealthy spreading their great knowledge and solutions around the world, that just coincidentally benefit themselves more than anyone else, really do believe their own rhetoric and just can't put themselves in the shoes of the suffering of the world? There's no other way I can explain why they do what they do - of course some are in it for purely greed, but others like Gates who seems, on one hand, to genuinely want to help, but blind to the only real solutions that will make a difference - he's far from a stupid man. I don't know ..... it's just so frustrating to watch.

[mother earth]

6. I agree, Polly. If there is the will, weeks can change decades. Let's hope we are reaching the

tipping point. All is not well.