Autism and poverty

[Atrapa Almas]

Your poll adds up to 200%...!

You really have not dedicated much time to read the article not to see the graphs...

Try again:

Those % are not being added. It means that a person who earns 10USD per day is earning more than 62% of the human population.

 

[Crossbreed]

It would have been less confusing if you said $/COLI instead of USD. I was thinking currency conversion rate (which does not consider local COLI).

 

[Luca]

I own a business, and I won't say exactly how much I make in a day but it's more than $30. But how much I make in a week is less than twice the cost of my rent.
How much I make in a year means I'm living relatively comfortably but still puts me at lower middle class.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

It would have been less confusing if you said $/COLI instead of USD. I was thinking currency conversion rate (which does not consider COLI).

Yeah, It could have been less confusing for you, if I had said that world that I didnt know what it means, just for the purpose of you not having to read the article not the graphs, to then affirm how wrong the article was.

Yeah, totally my fault.

 

[Crossbreed]

So, the OP is if everyone had US dollars and a local COLI of one...?

In that case, our spending power is slightly improved just by living in Wisconsin rather than New York or California (where I grew up).

 

[Outdated]

As for a currency value index, I always loved this one. It sort of helps to put things in to perspective.

The Big Mac Index in 2024

According to the latest Big Mac Index, the Lebanese pound is the most undervalued currency, and the Venezuelan bolívar is the most overvalued one.

fxssi.com

[Edit] Just to summarise, the Aussie dollar is only worth about 66 US cents but this mostly only affects imports. Local produce such as food is cheaper here so I can buy more with my dollar here than people in the US can with theirs.

 

[Au Naturel]

So I am curious to know this Autism-Poverty relation.

According to the World Bank info, the guys of Ourworld in data have done some very nice graphs to better understand how poverty is distributed among countries.

Some very interesting graphs are:
View attachment 90001
And:
View attachment 90002
You can find the full article here:

The history of the end of poverty has just begun

The decline of global poverty is one of the most important achievements in history, but the end of poverty is still very far away.

ourworldindata.org

So, are you poor, not so poor, actually part of the 15% richest? Votes may give us some light on this.

Enjoy.

Poverty is a relative thing. Once you have a shelter to live in, enough climate control to survive the environmental extremes, clean water, and enough food security that you aren't genuinely worried about malnutrition, you're not poor in any absolute sense. Poverty becomes a relative thing.

The chart needs to be adjusted for purchasing power parity. $30 in India gets you a heck of a lot more than in the USA.

China is an interesting case. There are about 2-300 million Chinese living at a modest western standard of living - which is why their GDP is slowly climbing towards that of the US. And another billion+ that we never see living in the interior in very poor conditions. We only get to see the gleaming buildings of the newly industrialized south and east.

 

[Billthecat]

Credo che molti abbiano centrato il punto molto meglio di me, il punto focale non è quanto siano le tue entrate, piuttosto come riesci a vivere con esse.

Ognuno ha tenore di vita e esigenze molto diverse, ciò che per me è un lusso per un altro può essere un economico passatempo.

Senza dimenticare che alla base del capitalismo c'è un bisogno implicito che un altro popolo venga sfruttato, la Cina sta tenendo lezione.

Spoiler: google translation

I think many have nailed it much better than me, the focal point is not how much your income is, rather how you manage to live with it.

Everyone has very different living standards and needs, what for me is a luxury for another can be an economic pastime.

Without forgetting that at the base of capitalism there is an implicit need for another people to be exploited, China is teaching.

 

[Fino]

My income is very inconsistent from day to day and week to week.

 

[Crossbreed]

Once you have a shelter to live in, enough climate control to survive the environmental extremes, clean water, and enough food security that you aren't genuinely worried about malnutrition, you're not poor in any absolute sense.

Medical security (to a certain point) is helpful, too.
Medical prevention is usually less expensive than therapy, after the fact.

 

[Storm Hess]

Economies of the world are a made up game. Money doesn't exist...bankers have given value to the meaningless with a lone goal of obtaining power. Politicians push the game forward through law, while bankers bury us all in debt. We are getting to a point where very few will be able to escape debt...while bankers and politicians roll in cash inhaling interest on that debt. We have to PAY to live...think about that. We have to buy the RIGHT to live. That's what the private 'health care system' is...giving insurance companies kick-back money for the RIGHT to be treated like human beings and live. Otherwise, you may die...or you may die anyway owing hospitals hundreds of thousands of dollars and your family is then stuck with the bill. It's all a made up game. Money has become more valuable than human lives...that's sickening and depressing.

 

[Storm Hess]

But if we didn't have the money system, we would use bartering. Humans have always needed a system to buy and sell. There's no such thing as free, someone always have to pay. So cash just makes bartering easier. Not saying it's a flawless system or even good, but that's the world we live in.

Why would there need to be any of it? All we need to do is live for the furthing of the human specie. This being a global goal would erase poverty and make desire for power. We as a specie need to evolve beyond this system of greed. Just as the monetary system was created, it can be destroyed. Our current system is NOT working.

What if we went to a shop and we were able to get what we needed without having to pay? This is possible...our perspectives and values must change, laws have to change...we must think beyond our wallets and the things that we collect in our homes. Do we really need billionaires? No, we don't. Do we need trillion dollar corporations? No, we don't. Maybe if we moved those resources to taking care of the people of this world, we wouldn't have all these problems. Think outside the box that they have us all shackled inside of.

 

[Shevek]

But if we didn't have the money system, we would use bartering. Humans have always needed a system to buy and sell. There's no such thing as free, someone always have to pay. So cash just makes bartering easier. Not saying it's a flawless system or even good, but that's the world we live in.

Modern money began when rich people, worried about theft, would ask their local goldsmith to keep their bullion in his safe, and just give them a paper receipt. They soon tired of going down to the shop to get some gold and giving it to someone who would just put it back in the safe, and started just passing on the receipts, payable to "the bearer." At least the papers were easier to hide.
Then, the goldsmith noticed that there was always gold in his safe - he never had everybody doing a withdrawal on the same day. So, he could issue a few extra receipts with no one being the wiser.
That was the "best" idea a greedy psychopath ever had, and soon, the seven sons of Jacob Rothschild had gone to the seven capitals of Europe to establish banks. Before long, even Kings were under their control. When England wanted to win the Battle of Waterloo, they needed money, and to get it, they co-signed all the loans that Napoleon would default on. Those were finally paid off in the mid 1950s,
Various isolated communities have issued their own paper money, and accepted it for taxes, and those economies have been spectacularly successful, until re-absorbed by guile or force. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated shortly after suggesting that the US should issue its own currency, instead of using the private scrip from the Federal Reserve, which sounds governmental, but is not.
So, you are not poor because you perform poorly as much as because some people are insanely greedy. In tribal culture, we didn't need any inhibitions about getting too much sugar, salt, fat, or money, and unfortunately, having too much money not only makes the owner miserable, but makes life very difficult for many others.

 

[Forest Cat]

Modern money began when rich people, worried about theft, would ask their local goldsmith to keep their bullion in his safe, and just give them a paper receipt. They soon tired of going down to the shop to get some gold and giving it to someone who would just put it back in the safe, and started just passing on the receipts, payable to "the bearer." At least the papers were easier to hide.
Then, the goldsmith noticed that there was always gold in his safe - he never had everybody doing a withdrawal on the same day. So, he could issue a few extra receipts with no one being the wiser.
That was the "best" idea a greedy psychopath ever had, and soon, the seven sons of Jacob Rothschild had gone to the seven capitals of Europe to establish banks. Before long, even Kings were under their control. When England wanted to win the Battle of Waterloo, they needed money, and to get it, they co-signed all the loans that Napoleon would default on. Those were finally paid off in the mid 1950s,
Various isolated communities have issued their own paper money, and accepted it for taxes, and those economies have been spectacularly successful, until re-absorbed by guile or force. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated shortly after suggesting that the US should issue its own currency, instead of using the private scrip from the Federal Reserve, which sounds governmental, but is not.
So, you are not poor because you perform poorly as much as because some people are insanely greedy. In tribal culture, we didn't need any inhibitions about getting too much sugar, salt, fat, or money, and unfortunately, having too much money not only makes the owner miserable, but makes life very difficult for many others.

Yeah but doesn't money make it a simpler system? No matter what I need, I have to pay for it somehow. With cash I can simply trade cash for what I need, whatever it is. If we didn't use cash I would have to barter, so if the milk seller wanted a bicycle for his milk, I would have to find a bicycle before I could get milk. But it's not great system, it's just what we have.

 

[Forest Cat]

Why would there need to be any of it? All we need to do is live for the furthing of the human specie. This being a global goal would erase poverty and make desire for power. We as a specie need to evolve beyond this system of greed. Just as the monetary system was created, it can be destroyed. Our current system is NOT working.

What if we went to a shop and we were able to get what we needed without having to pay? This is possible...our perspectives and values must change, laws have to change...we must think beyond our wallets and the things that we collect in our homes. Do we really need billionaires? No, we don't. Do we need trillion dollar corporations? No, we don't. Maybe if we moved those resources to taking care of the people of this world, we wouldn't have all these problems. Think outside the box that they have us all shackled inside of.

Going to a shop and get what we need for free... sounds nice but not realistic. Not on this planet. Someone always have to pay. It's in peoples nature to gather and take care of themselves. You work hard for what you have and you don't want to give that away for free. Because you worked for it, you earned it. Money is just something we use to get what we need to survive, so we try to gather money.

 

[Shevek]

Yeah but doesn't money make it a simpler system? No matter what I need, I have to pay for it somehow. With cash I can simply trade cash for what I need, whatever it is. If we didn't use cash I would have to barter, so if the milk seller wanted a bicycle for his milk, I would have to find a bicycle before I could get milk. But it's not great system, it's just what we have.

Of course we need a medium of exchange. At various times, black markets have used cans of sardines or other standard, compact goods instead of gold coins. Even with an electronic matching service, it would just be too tedious for everyone to barter directly. My point is that currently, we are slaving away to rent money that others create out of thin air. Money can also be created without debt being incurred as it is issued.

 

[Forest Cat]

Of course we need a medium of exchange. At various times, black markets have used cans of sardines or other standard, compact goods instead of gold coins. Even with an electronic matching service, it would just be too tedious for everyone to barter directly. My point is that currently, we are slaving away to rent money that others create out of thin air. Money can also be created without debt being incurred as it is issued.

The new thing here now is that the authorities wants to make a new type of digital money and force us all to use that. It's this blockchain money thing. I don't like it, I have a bad feeling about that.

 

[Shevek]

Going to a shop and get what we need for free... sounds nice but not realistic. Not on this planet. Someone always have to pay. It's in peoples nature to gather and take care of themselves. You work hard for what you have and you don't want to give that away for free. Because you worked for it, you earned it. Money is just something we use to get what we need to survive, so we try to gather money.

Monkeys live in troops of various sizes, and those numbers correlate strongly with their brain size. It takes more wetware to keep track of more monkeys. Based on our brain size, our natural community size is 150 people. In a group of 100 people, you really can go to the store and get what you need, and go to work and see where your labour goes, and know people who will notice if you are taking too much or doing too little. In a group of 200, we have usually begun to delaminate into classes.
The advent of agriculture put us into a strange new world, where we could store up grain to avoid famine in bad years. Those granaries brought wealth into the world, and changed us from tribal societies to ones more like those of the social insects. Money replaces the old community awareness about production and consumption, but it can also be siphoned off into vast hoards that control society.

 

[Progster]

I earn different amounts each day, sometimes it's 12 euros, sometimes 84 euros, sometimes nothing at all. The cost of living is on the rise, but it's enough to get by, and put some aside. If I don't spend it on music, that is. I'm doing an experiment to see how much I need for just the basics - electricity, food, medicine, heating, etc and this month I spent about 450 euros on those. Then I need about another 100 euros a month for taxes. I own my house, so don't pay rent or mortgage. I'm estimating that one one need about 800 euros a month for most people, less if you're sharing a house.

Poverty is relative, and not necessarily about money, but access to resources such as water. In terms of money, one needs to balance necessary expenditure against caost of living. and then factor in access to resources. It's complicated.

 

[Au Naturel]

The fundamental resources in the world are time, energy, and materials. Of these, time is absolutely limited for every one of us. If I give you any of those but do not get something back in return, I may die. If I get something that is inadequate or not useful, I may still die.

I gain status by putting the time, energy and material of other people under my control. Status makes for reproductive success. Reproduction itself is trading time and energy for the material aspect of support.

That fundamental instinct is the basis for all the economies that have ever existed. The instinct persists even though few people in western countries will die if they lose out on a transaction. They are merely a bit less affluent. Doesn't matter. The instinct is extremely difficult for most to overcome. Even billionaires.

Money is just a proxy for the relative value of something in a person's opinion. That proxy allows trade to go beyond barter.

The value of a thing varies widely from one person to another. It is completely subjective. If I value an item highly I won't trade it unless I can get equal or better value back. But I can trade something of low value to someone who places a high value on it. They can give me something they value little that I value more. The value of both items increases at the point of transition. We both come out ahead. That is capitalism in a nutshell. Anything else is applique.