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sway2sway
03-26-2007, 09:20 PM
What should I call this thread? My first try was 'global shit', then 'shit is global, how about 'shit globally'? then I tried to censor my potty mouth for the upstanding appearance of the main page, the result being a concise 'globalization', yet this tide cannot be stemmed, if I'm thinking shit, but trying not to say shit, inevitably shit will be shit, shitted, shat.

anyway.

I read this article I found quite interesting. It proposes that foreign aid has been reversed in the last 10 years or so, with the increasing globalization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/magazine/25wwlnidealab.t.html

I'll provide some highlights for you.

One of the touted benefits of globalization is the potential for increased transfer of capital from rich to poor countries. In reality, it says capital is moving the other way, even the poorest countries are exporting $. All countries have hard currency reserves to cover foreign debt or to use in case of a disaster. The rich countries usually have about 3 months worth of the value of total imports. The poorer countries have been increasing their reserves, often up to about 8 months worth, to ward off any investor panic. These countries often keep their reserves in the form of US Treasury Bills, so with the padding of the poor countries reserves, they are in effect lending the US money.

Immigration, brain drain- the poorer country educates the person and then they take those skills with them to a richer country. I read somewhere else that the US gives about 20 billion in direct aid to 3rd world countries and then get back about 30 billion in capital assets, these assets being educated immigrants at the beginning of their work life.

Artificially cheap food (thorugh govt subsidies) is exported to poorer countries. The farmers there can't compete, stop farming, lose their source of income, and become dependent.

Poorer countries are footing the bill of the richer countries high per capita energy use- Seen through global warming trends and environmental problems.

Ok, I sorta butchered this, my highlights may not be your highlights.
"Anyway," she says yet again.
There are some other interesting points in there too, about intellectual property, pharmaceutical patents, shit like that, global shit.

sway2sway
03-26-2007, 09:51 PM
Preface: this is purely conjecture, no facts or stats, just my own swirly thoughts, and likely fraught with leaps o'er the illogical stream, but who cares, right?

There has recently been in the news, talk of how the income divide is widening in america, has been for some time, with more below the poverty line than...... (A. ever before B. since the depression C. since 1982 d. since the millenium.. Answer: I don't fucking know, please refer to the preface) Anyway, with the reverse foreign aid I was previously discussing, it seems to me that a lot of these perks are going to big business and government, oh yeah that's one & the same these days, bigbusinessgovernment, rolls right off the tongue, don't it. So their plates are getting bigger with no effort at all. I would also suggest that the same globalization forces that can have a negative effect on the poorer countries, have the same effect on the poorer people of the richer countries. It's like a separate country within another country. The rich, the poor, different rules, different laws, different language, different health care system. I do believe the shit is the same, though some may try to suggest otherwise.

sway2sway
03-27-2007, 12:59 AM
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-01/GlobalRichandPoor2006-12-22-voa6.cfm

this has some interesting bits in it, not sure of the source's slant, but I'll go with it.
in 2000 the wealthiest 1% owned 40% of the world's assets, the richest 10% owned 85%

the last paragraph:
World Bank experts predict that globalization will lift many more of the globe's poorest people out of poverty during the next 25 years. But even if the gap between rich and poor countries begins to narrow, many experts warn that a bigger problem may be the widening income disparity within rich and poor countries themselves.

sway2sway
03-27-2007, 03:54 PM
how about this trend to sock it to em'? the reversin' the reverse foreign aid. movement of jah people to somewhere else, less developed, pay less taxes to the mothership, while investing in the (hopefully) sustainable, conscious growth of that patch of mama earth. (Is that girl talkin' bout' mama earth's snatch? yo mama's snatch is so big.... that's enough, isn't it)

this is from the link below and I don't know who the hell this guy is, but I'm liking what he's saying.
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You've heard of semi-precious stones. How about semi-precious wood? Like teak. The world market price for teak is now about $2,000 a cubic metre! Not only to be cut into planks but quality parquet flooring, yacht decking and carved into ornaments and display pieces that can turn a $1,000 tree into $100,000 worth of well designed, haute couture semi-precious wood jewelry. Now that's value-added! If you invest US$50,000 in a teak plantation, "the government of Costa Rica will extend the privilege of residency status to those who are participating in our program of reforestation...". That's not all. "This (is a) non-taxable (no local, territorial, national, inheritance or capital gains taxes), secure, high-yield government approved investment in Latin America's largest teak reforestation project...", say the ads. A unique feature of teak is the reforestation program required after the trees are harvested. There is none. Teak almost always regenerates the next tree right out of the existing stump! Teak is fire resistant, merely charring slightly, and its dense wood is resistant to most insects.

What does this mean? Invest in these projects, pay no taxes on profits, gain residency in the only country that has had no army since 1948, that has been independent since 1821 and that is acting positively about the environment with projects like this - and have pension checks, royalties, interest income (from investments outside Canada) sent to you there. Interest from Canadian savings and investments and business earnings from Canada or the U.S. are subject to a 15 percent withholding tax, which is about two-thirds less than you are paying now.

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http://www.drtomorrow.com/lessons/lessons3/23.html

Miss Shark
03-27-2007, 05:15 PM
Do it sway, and then sell the renewable energy credits as well for planting all those trees.

sway2sway
03-27-2007, 07:56 PM
my retirement is looking brighter all the time.