[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!!!

[Tzimisce]

Gee, Marx said this 150 years ago but now it's being hailed as a new idea....

[flying Elvis]

Yup, we should have thought of this sooner. After all if Hitler had turned the German economy around and controlled inflation we would not have invaded Poland. And, if Japan could have changed from a feudal society into and industrialized society, then they would not have attacked Pearl Harbor. Or maybe, if we could have pumped billions of dollars into the Middle East, then they would not have attacked us.

[GAB-1955]

He's halfway right. Making people richer doesn't lead to the end of conflict; it makes people less inclined to go revolutionary because they have nothing to lose. It also makes them less inclined to tolerate government property grabs. If you made 100,000 Palestinian young men managers at McDonalds or some other store, there'd be fewer suicide bombers. More bad hamburgers, maybe, but they'd be too tired to listen to the local imam urge them to blow themselves up for the glory of Allah.