Nobel prize links poverty reduction to peace

Yahoo! News ^ | 10/13/06 | Guy Jackson

[libertarianPA]

Of course! It's so simple! Why didn't we think of it before? If there was no poverty, everything would be fine. Certainly religious or cultural ideologies wouldn't get in the way of world harmony.

Quick! Someone throw money at the poor people! Peace at last!!!

[2banana]

Interesting - Haiti has never been in a war yet is the poorest country in the western hemisphere...

[Mike Darancette]

Why were the worst wars started by the richest nations?

[snarks_when_bored]

And somebody send bin Laden a few more million...that'll help for sure...

[Always Right]

Unless of course their religion demands that they kill everyone....

[ikka]

Yes of course the Saudis that were involved in 9/11 were all dirt poor farmers that couldn't even afford a goat...

[marvlus]

Wait! I thought for sure Cindy Sheehan was going to win this most coveted prize!

[FlingWingFlyer]

Normally people aren't in the mood to fight when they are out scrounging for something to eat. Hungry people just don't fight well.

[avg_freeper]

Actually it links Capitalism with a reduction in poverty.

[BenLurkin]

Hard to believe anyone really believes this: "... the causes of war, such as hunger and poverty..."

Anyway -- if it is poverty you want to eliminate then Capitalism is the tried and true way to eliminate it. Every other approach has only made poverty worse.

[beelzepug]

"Peace is not just the absence of war but also the absence of reasons for having a war."

Ergo, eliminate all other religions and there would be no reason for the muzzies to be whizzed and all the killing and terrorism would stop. So simple. Let's all head down to our local mosque and convert.

[dfwgator]

Gee, I guess that explains why most of the 911 Hijackers came from rich Saudi families.

[Borges]

This years Peace Prize to the developers of micro-loans was well deserved. And films that win a lot of Oscars tend toward the traditional old fashioned side.

[domenad]

PRECISELY! What I haven't seen one fool point out yet was that the microcredit principle is a purely capitalistic idea. It was conceived and brought to fruition in an entrepreneurial spirit and is a stellar example of how to cure poverty - teach a man to fish, and LEND him a few bucks for a pole.

[The_Reader_David]

The 'poverty causes war' analysis is bullshit, but it's nice they decided to honor one of the people who is implementing small-scale capitalism as the way to overcome poverty.

[OESY]

Cindy Sheehan? Gulp. I'm shocked, shocked.
I thought Jimmy had a lock on these Loony Tunes.

[antiRepublicrat]

Wow, it only took them this long to recognize this guy. I believe it was he that P.J. O'Rourke was praising as a poverty solution in a book from the 90s (IIRC, All the Trouble in the World ), as opposed to the failed government schemes, like "Let's depend on and market jute even though the market has shrunk dramatically due to synthetics."

[lepton]

Attack the causes of poverty and you remove the roots of conflict

Historically, it is when improvements of conditions occur that many poor peoples become aggressive. As an example, the French Revolution occurred on the heels of the most widespread increase in wealth among the commonfolk in centuries.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Why were the worst wars started by the richest nations?"

See Rwanda. Sometimes the worst wars happen among the poorest, as well.