Proutist Economic Development The Worlds No. 1 Problem Poverty

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Proutist Economic Development The Worlds No. 1
Problem?Poverty

• Dr. Michael Towsey

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Poverty
Source CIA World Factbook
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Three promises for Venuzela Chavez 1998

• To break the puntofijismo system
• oligarchic 2 party political system
• To end corruption
• in all areas of the social body
• To alleviate poverty
• which is a social disparity

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Disparity due to poverty

• There must be a ceaseless fight against poverty
• Poverty is
• a common enemy
• the result of a defective social structure
• the root cause of many crimes

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Causes of poverty

• Low rate of savings and investment
• Low education
• High population
• - but China vs USA
• Corruption
• Marcos in Philippines
• Suharto in Indonesia
• Colonial heritage
• Neo-colonialism
• regulations imposed by WTO and IMF

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Prout perspective on poverty

• Layers of poverty
• Global level
• Third World vs USA, Europe
• National level
• rural poverty vs cities
• Local level
• slums, ghettos vs elite suburbs

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Global - Neo-colonialism
Current system is an extension of colonialism -
for the last several hundred years wealth has
been sucked from the periphery to the centres of
empires.
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National - Rural poverty flight to the cities
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Local - Sydney suburban "poverty"
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Common factors in poverty

• The bleeding of wealth
• wastage or removal of wealth from a locality so
  that it is impossible to maintain the capital
  base required for further development
• Three kinds of capital
• Physical capital natural, fixed, financial
  (requires rational distribution and maximum
  utilization)
• Human capital deficiency due to low spending on
  education
• Social capital lost due to community decay and
  corruption
• Poverty and wealth concentration for the few, go
  hand in hand

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Wealth Concentration in South America
Income ratios richest 10 housholds ? poorest
10 households (disposable income)

• New Zealand 1986 4.7
• New Zealand 2000 6.6
• Norway 2002 5.3

Graph from New Internationalist, May 2003
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Wealth concentration derives from imperialism
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Recent books on empires

• British Imperialism 1688-2000, Peter J. Cain
  Tony Hopkins (2nd ed)
• decline is due to resource wars - similar to USA
  today
• Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis (2001)
• 3rd world is creation of colonialism and climate
• When Corporations Rule the World, David Korten
  (2001)
• the trend to corporate empires and their
  techniques

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To end poverty

• At local level
• halt the bleeding of wealth from local
  communities
• attend to community solidarity and ethical
  leadership at all levels
• At national level
• attend to trade and capital flows at all levels
• attend to education standards at all levels
• At global level
• move from economic disparity to economic parity
• wealth of the world is the common patrimony of
  all
• requires rational distribution and maximum
  utilization

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Campaign against poverty

• Three steps
• arouse an anti-exploitation sentiment - each and
  every person should be convinced that the entire
  wealth of the world is the common patrimony of
  all
• each and every person should be guaranteed the
  minimum necessities of life by providing everyone
  with sufficient purchasing capacity
• simultaneously, the wealth of the country /
  socio-economic zone should also be increased to
  meet the demands of the people

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Goal is economic parity

• With the eradication of socio-economic disparity
• the collective wealth of society will increase
  progressively and
• society will become bountiful.
• The goal is to achieve economic parity around the
  world.