[FightThePower!]

Anyone who knows anything about the city of Detroit and its government knows that it is no different than many African Kleptocracy's

[loveliberty2]

The moral philosopher, Adam Smith, pursued the question from another perspective, entitled, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations,"published in March, 1776.

America is the shining example of what a society of free people can achieve in a relatively short period of time. Edmund Burke, in his 1775 "Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies," elaborated on the outstanding economic accomplishments of the colonists in America, even before their independence and subsequent Constitution.

America, under a written Constitution, became a beacon of liberty and the breadbasket of the world, taking the tired and poor from other lands, many of whom, upon arriving in America achieved great wealth by serving the needs of others (just as Adam Smith had observed).

Two hundred years later, we have so-called "educated" Americans, like John Edwards, studying poverty, as if Adam Smith and the American experiment had never happened!

The problem is that the political agenda of the Far Left in America today (represented by the Edwardses and Kerrys) requires coercive political (government) control and is not consistent with the ideas of liberty upon which America was founded and which Adam Smith wisely observed were the "causes of the wealth of nations."

So much for poverty! Let's hear it for the freedom that allows even the poorest to become wealthy by meeting the needs of their fellowmen.

[Porterville]

Simple, lack of guaranteed property rights.

That's all folks.

[sionnsar]

“Yes! There are elections. President Biya is always re-elected with a 90 percent majority.”

Sounds like Seattle.

[Publius6961]

I cannot confirm that President Biya fits Olson’s description of a self-interested dictator. But if he did, it wouldn’t be in his interest to take too much from the Cameroonian people, because then there would be nothing to take next year. As long as he feels secure in his tenure, he will not wish to kill the golden goose.

The fatal flaw in this argument is the assumption that the Cameroonian people are the source of his plunder.
This underscores the distortion and permanent damage that "foreign aid", charity, introduces into the process.

The source of the plunder is the bottomless pocket of well-meaning but totally clueless foreign governments, who have invented and continue the perpetual motion of corruption.

[Dad yer funny]

bookmk ping , complete reading

[okie73104]

What about a nation's mean IQ?

Take the IQ values below with a grain of salt, but there is heavy correlation of IQ scores to GDP per capita with the exception of China.

100 = British mean

Hong Kong (PRC) 107
South Korea 106
Japan 105
Taiwan (ROC) 104
Singapore 103
Austria 102
Germany 102
Italy 102
Netherlands 102
Sweden 101
Switzerland 101
Belgium 100
China (PRC) 100, Shanghai (PRC) 109
New Zealand 100
United Kingdom 100
Hungary 99
Poland 99
Australia 98
Denmark 98
France 98
Norway 98
United States 98
Canada 97
Czech Republic 97
Finland 97
Spain 97
Argentina 96
Russia 96
Slovakia 96
Uruguay 96
Portugal 95
Slovenia 95
Israel 94
Romania 94
Bulgaria 93
Ireland 93
Greece 92
Malaysia 92
Thailand 91
Croatia 90
Peru 90
Turkey 90
Indonesia 89
Suriname 89
Colombia 89
Brazil 87
Iraq 87
Mexico 87
Samoa 87
Tonga 87
Lebanon 86
Philippines 86
Cuba 85
Morocco 85
Fiji 84
Iran 84
Marshall Islands 84
Puerto Rico (US) 84
Egypt 83
India 81
Ecuador 80
Guatemala 79
Barbados 78
Nepal 78
Qatar 78
Zambia 77
Congo-Brazzaville 73
Uganda 73
Jamaica 72
Kenya 72
South Africa 72
Sudan 72
Tanzania 72
Ghana 71
Nigeria 67
Guinea 66
Zimbabwe 66
Congo-Kinshasa 65
Sierra Leone 64
Ethiopia 63
Equatorial Guinea 59

[reluctantwarrior]

bttttt