Green Options

Economic populism involves an economic philosophy urging social and political system changes. In the current political and economic climate, the public concern over the inequity of wealth appears to be at a peak. There is a growing call by Senator Barack Obama and democrats to raise taxes on the wealthy to shrink the wealth gap. But is it true that the rich are getting richer? Or are the rich actually in danger of losing a significant portion of the nation’s [...]

An innovative campaign from HelpSweden.org aims to turn our notions of wealth and poverty on their heads.

HelpSweden.org has drafted a petition to Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. It urges greater action on the Millennium Development Goals when Sweden holds the European Union presidency in the second half of 2009. The message also holds a reminder of the first world’s forgotten debt to the rest of the world for resources and labor.

Think Africa’s poor?

Not in terms of natural resources. Most diamonds and gold in the world come from Africa. With all the conflict that’s erupted over mining the abundant precious materials in the Congo, there’s a saying, “We’d be so much better off if we weren’t so rich.”

Much of the African continent is also blessed a climate far more lush than, say, Sweden. Yet with a fraction of the natural resources and more snow than you could shake a kräftskivor at, Sweden’s economy is among the top twenty largest in the world, dwarfing any African nation.

So what gives?

One of the most commonly preached mantras about the current economic system is that it will “bring wealth to everyone”. This, put politely, is a huge steaming pile of horse manure.

Wealth isn’t an absolute measure which will, say, always be three feet long. It’s a comparative measure which is defined by being over a certain percentage above the average.

So “wealth for all” is a contradiction in terms. We can’t all be wealthy because then we’d all be average, which by definition isn’t wealthy.