US Capitalism: The Most Remarkable Achievement In Human History Against Poverty

[Wilikon]

America benefited the poor! At the expense of your own and their children and/or grandchildren you fucking halfwit! Now go have a group masturbation session with Ben Bernanke in retirement and die of old age not knowing how much you've fucked us all over.

+1

     Apologies to all the sane citizens of the US frequenting this forum - but I find the idea that, given its absolutely appalling take on international relations and foreign policy (being a heady mix of the illicit financing of dictatorial junta's, rapacious and oil thirsty conquest, anti domino effect occupations and, of late, sponsoring groups they at home label terrorists in the hope that said groups will do the job for them on non co-operative foreign governments) - all done in the name of "Freedom and Democracy") - I find the idea that the US is somehow to be given the glory for alleviating world poverty ( to an extent that may or may not be imaginary anyhow) absolutely delusional on the grandest scale.
 
     Jesus wept 

Please don't read this that I am anti US because I am not. Yes, I believe that the ruling elite therein have a lot to answer for in this world, but I don't for one minute hold the average US citizen responsible for this anymore than I would blame my grandfather for Britains Imperialist past.

  But "US Capitalism: The Most Remarkable Achievement In Human History Against Poverty" ? 

   Get a grip here.

   

Obviously there must be better examples of nations or systems that worked way better than US capitalism helping people from abject poverty. Feel free to list all.

Thank you in advance...

[fortune143]

Lies, damned lies and statistics. I’m afraid that laughably hilarious statement; that ‘US Capitalism is The Most Remarkable Achievement In Human History Against Poverty’ is ridiculous, and is in no way supported by your chart.

A few points
a)   Your chart shows that those living on a $ a day or less (at 1987 $ values) fell from 26.8% to 5.4%. In isolation though this tells us very little, and certainly does not back up the assertion that globalised free market capitalism eradicated poverty. The chart posted straight after yours actually shows that from 1987 to 2010 inflation increased by at least 1200%. This means that the income of the percentage of people no longer living on a dollar a day would have had to increased by at least 1200% in order for them to live the same quality of life they had in 1987, basically just to stand still.
b)   Which leads to the next point ‘capitalism lifted x amount of people out of poverty’, lifted them out of poverty and into...? Make no mistake, if these people now make $2 a day instead of $1 a day they are still living in conditions unbelievably worse than they would have decades ago. It would be foolish to assume that even a small minority of those no longer living on $1 are now living jolly happy lives.
c)   The fact of free market capitalism is that it is a system that relies on exploiting others in order to acquire and accumulate wealth. The United States has acquired and accumulated plenty of wealth over the ages, and no surprise it has achieved this like true capitalists, by exploiting others and this includes the developed world
d)   Finally, how much of this reduction in global poverty is even attributable to the United States? Who are the people who have been lifted from poverty and how much of a part did the US play in that? According to Professor Danny Quah from the London School of Economics, it is actually China that accounts for 100% of global poverty reduction from 1981 to 2005. This is due to the fact that in this time period, global poverty reduced by 500 million (from 1.9bn to 1.5bn) but Chinese poverty decreased by 627 million. Looking at this then you can see that if you take out China’s reduction in poverty, global poverty levels would have actually risen. I would be interested to know OPs thoughts on this.  http://ablog.typepad.com/keytrendsinglobalisation/2013/11/china-world-poverty.html

The usual ‘capitalism has taken more people out of poverty than in any time in our history etc etc’ line is used by my Prime Minister David Cameron, as an excuse to enact corrupt legislation designed to protect wealthy elites and maintain the status quo. It is a lie and a fallacy. The fact that some people actually believe that US style, rapacious, neo-liberal, free market capitalism will make this world a nicer fairer place, the more deluded they actually seem. And as more people like OP trumpet this nonsense without looking past the blatant lies, it grants this old, outdated and totally corrupt system more legitimacy to control and dictate our  lives.

[practicaldreamer]

Obviously there must be better examples of nations or systems that worked way better than US capitalism helping people from abject poverty. Feel free to list all.

Thank you in advance...

  

I was going to list all the social benefits brought in by the post war Labour Government in the UK with regards the welfare state- but I expect you would have argued that these services were ultimately funded by the taxpayer (and so, ultimately, capitalism  ), silly argument though it is.
  
     So I'll refer you to this instead - just to show you whats possible in a country that has suffered decades of trade embargo's by the US. In spite of this, and in spite of being a much poorer country it has managed to outperform the US in many key areas of poverty alleviation (at least in regards to healthcare). Certainly if you look at the pre and post revolution comparisons in healthcare indicators it would seem that the current Cuban government are doing a much better job at poverty alleviation than was manged when the country was run by "entrepeneurs" (gangsters) from the US.  
     Read it and weep  

                 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba

[Wilikon]

Obviously there must be better examples of nations or systems that worked way better than US capitalism helping people from abject poverty. Feel free to list all.

Thank you in advance...

  

I was going to list all the social benefits brought in by the post war Labour Government in the UK with regards the welfare state- but I expect you would have argued that these services were ultimately funded by the taxpayer (and so, ultimately, capitalism  ), silly argument though it is.
  
     So I'll refer you to this instead - just to show you whats possible in a country that has suffered decades of trade embargo's by the US. In spite of this, and in spite of being a much poorer country it has managed to outperform the US in many key areas of poverty alleviation (at least in regards to healthcare). Certainly if you look at the pre and post revolution comparisons in healthcare indicators it would seem that the current Cuban government are doing a much better job at poverty alleviation than was manged when the country was run by "entrepeneurs" (gangsters) from the US.  
     Read it and weep  

                 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba

Watch and... weep? 
Cuba's Healthcare: Medical Apartheid
http://youtu.be/IUSdYY243pk

[bitlancr]

Yes, it's possible to get lucky and have a benevolent dictator who provides great healthcare. But would you like to discuss the healthcare situation in North Korea, for example?

Personally I'd much prefer a free market in healthcare, where anyone can participate to improve competition and standards, and doctors earn a good wage.

[u9y42]

Lies, damned lies and statistics. I’m afraid that laughably hilarious statement; that ‘US Capitalism is The Most Remarkable Achievement In Human History Against Poverty’ is ridiculous, and is in no way supported by your chart.

A few points
a)   Your chart shows that those living on a $ a day or less (at 1987 $ values) fell from 26.8% to 5.4%. In isolation though this tells us very little, and certainly does not back up the assertion that globalised free market capitalism eradicated poverty. The chart posted straight after yours actually shows that from 1987 to 2010 inflation increased by at least 1200%. This means that the income of the percentage of people no longer living on a dollar a day would have had to increased by at least 1200% in order for them to live the same quality of life they had in 1987, basically just to stand still.
b)   Which leads to the next point ‘capitalism lifted x amount of people out of poverty’, lifted them out of poverty and into...? Make no mistake, if these people now make $2 a day instead of $1 a day they are still living in conditions unbelievably worse than they would have decades ago. It would be foolish to assume that even a small minority of those no longer living on $1 are now living jolly happy lives.
c)   The fact of free market capitalism is that it is a system that relies on exploiting others in order to acquire and accumulate wealth. The United States has acquired and accumulated plenty of wealth over the ages, and no surprise it has achieved this like true capitalists, by exploiting others and this includes the developed world
d)   Finally, how much of this reduction in global poverty is even attributable to the United States? Who are the people who have been lifted from poverty and how much of a part did the US play in that? According to Professor Danny Quah from the London School of Economics, it is actually China that accounts for 100% of global poverty reduction from 1981 to 2005. This is due to the fact that in this time period, global poverty reduced by 500 million (from 1.9bn to 1.5bn) but Chinese poverty decreased by 627 million. Looking at this then you can see that if you take out China’s reduction in poverty, global poverty levels would have actually risen. I would be interested to know OPs thoughts on this.  http://ablog.typepad.com/keytrendsinglobalisation/2013/11/china-world-poverty.html

The usual ‘capitalism has taken more people out of poverty than in any time in our history etc etc’ line is used by my Prime Minister David Cameron, as an excuse to enact corrupt legislation designed to protect wealthy elites and maintain the status quo. It is a lie and a fallacy. The fact that some people actually believe that US style, rapacious, neo-liberal, free market capitalism will make this world a nicer fairer place, the more deluded they actually seem. And as more people like OP trumpet this nonsense without looking past the blatant lies, it grants this old, outdated and totally corrupt system more legitimacy to control and dictate our  lives.

I don't know about d), but I agree with the rest. I always find it amazing how many people are perfectly happy with a system based on exploiting others (and though they don't realize it, themselves as well).

[fortune143]

The trick is that every individual thinks they're a winner and nobody actually thinks they're being exploited, especially if they're 'successful' (mortgage they can't pay, marriage they don't want, Job they can't stand, and more money than their friends and acquaintances). Capitalism has been of a huge benefit ultimately to roughly 1% of people in the world.

[bitlancr]

"Exploiting others?" Pff. How is accepting a wage in return for your labour exploitation?

The thing about voluntary exchange is that it is voluntary. You're free to quit if you don't like your crappy job, divorce if you don't like your marriage. Granted, you still have to pay your way in life, but what else are you going to do - steal from others?

[Wilikon]

"Exploiting others?" Pff. How is accepting a wage in return for your labour exploitation?

The thing about voluntary exchange is that it is voluntary. You're free to quit if you don't like your crappy job, divorce if you don't like your marriage. Granted, you still have to pay your way in life, but what else are you going to do - steal from others?

[Wilikon]

https://vimeo.com/84333052

The conservative behind “2016: Obama’s America” is under indictment for campaign finance violations but his next doc will open on schedule on July 4, filmmakers say.

The filmmakers behind Dinesh D’Souza’s upcoming doc have vowed to press on while their star defends himself after his indictment on federal charges that he violated campaign finance laws in 2012. On Sunday, they released a trailer for the movie, America, that is set for release on July 4.

America is the follow-up to the surprise hit 2016: Obama’s America, which earned $33 million in 2012 and became the second most popular political documentary in history, behind Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which earned $119 million in 2004.

In America, D’Souza — who wrote and produced the film — makes the claim that 1960s radical leftism is more or less indistinguishable from current mainstream liberalism, a doctrine that he says preaches the United States is the product of “stealing and plunder” from Native Americans, Mexicans and African-American slaves.

“I want to take this progressive, leftist critique head on,” D’Souza says in the trailer. The movie will include re-creations of some of the major events in American history.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dinesh-dsouzas-america-trailer-released-674121

[Wilikon]

[...]

3. Communism killed 110 million* people for resisting dispossession.

*The number cited is as consistent as it is rooted in sound research; i.e., not.

Greg Gutfeld, one of the hosts of Fox News’ “The Five” and a historical scholar of zero renown, recently advanced the position that “only the threat of death can prop up a left-wing dream, because no one in their right mind would volunteer for this crap. Hence, 110 million dead.” In declaring this, Gutfeld and his ilk insult the suffering of the millions of people who died under Stalin, Mao, and other 20th Century Communist dictators. Making up a big-sounding number of people and chalking their deaths up to some abstract “communism” is no way to enact a humanistic commitment to victims of human rights atrocities.

For one thing, a large number of the people killed under Soviet communism weren’t the kulaks everyone pretends to care about but themselves communists. Stalin, in his paranoid cruelty, not only had Russian revolutionary leaders assassinated and executed, but indeed exterminated entire communist parties. These people weren’t resisting having their property collectivized; they were committed to collectivizing property. It is also worth remembering that the Soviets had to fight a revolutionary war – against, among others, the US – which, as the American Revolution is enough to show, doesn’t mainly consist of group hugs. They also faced (and heroically defeated) the Nazis, who were not an ocean away, but right on their doorstep.

So much for the USSR. The most horrifying episode in 20th Century official Communism was the Great Chinese Famine, its death toll difficult to identify, but surely in the tens of millions. Several factors evidently contributed to this atrocity, but central to it was Mao’s “Great Leap Forward,” a disastrous combination of applied pseudoscience, stat-juking, and political persecution designed to transform China into an industrial superpower in the blink of an eye. The experiment’s results were extremely grim, but to claim that the victims died because they, in their right minds, would not volunteer for “a left-wing dream” is ludicrous. Famine is not a uniquely “left-wing” problem.

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/02/why_youre_wrong_about_communism_7_huge_misconceptions_about_it_and_capitalism/
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One of the comment says "Communism works!! But only with Bees. Or Ants. . . . " I am not an expert but I believe bees and ants both are ruled by a Queen...

[thetruth]

They say America is at the center of the vampire squid, flailing its vicious tentacles against innocent foreign civilizations. This is an oversimplification at best. The crimes that these well-meaning but naïve activists scorn  cannot be attributed to “America” because the American ideal has been completely abandoned by those in the seat of power in our modern era. We do not live in “America” — at least, not the America that the Founding Fathers and authors of the Constitution created.  Therefore, the original philosophy that gave birth to America is not the issue, the abuse and neglect of that philosophy is.

America has been ransacked and deformed into a hideous lampoon of its former self. This has been done for the most part through the destruction of the guiding principles we pretend we still hold onto as a  culture, but in reality have cast aside. If we are ever to undo the damage that has already been done, we have to rediscover what the original design of America was.

It’s Not America Anymore
http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/america-anymore/