Fix the World

Episode 5, End Poverty

Doug

If all the money were distributed equally, every adult would have $87,000. Poverty exists because rich people think they want excessive wealth more than an end to poverty, so they hoard. We'll end poverty by teaching kids, rich and poor alike, that hoarding may seem attractive at first glance, but it's never what anyone really wants. At any given time, every bit of money is owned by someone. If I take ownership of more money, it's because others lost what I took. My gain is others loss. Rich people think they don't want to understand this. They pretend that getting richer is all gain and no loss. But the truth is hard to ignore. And we must teach this truth in school, college, church, and synagogue: No one is entitled to extra before everyone has enough. But more than half of all people don't have enough because 10% of people own 85% of everything there is to own. To end poverty, two things have to happen: 1) The rich need to give their extra to the poor, and 2) the poor need not to want more than their fair share. To get what we really want, we all must embrace austerity, and donate our extra either to fair taxes or effective charities.