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Would you mind backing up that assertion? I would argue that technological advances are a large part of what makes the west's standard of living greater. Just l

Would you mind backing up that assertion? I would argue that technological advances are a large part of what makes the west's standard of living greater. Just look at the huge leaps in GDP made by the Four Asian Tigers, China, India, etc, for examples of how technological inflows have increased standards of living. As an example, inventing a cheaper, scalable, and distributed (unhindered by corrupt central governments) way to sanitize water in the third world seems like a pretty good technological challenge to me.

anamax 17y ago
> I would argue that technological advances are a large part of what makes the west's standard of living greater. While that's true, it doesn't contradict my assertion. > As an example, inventing a cheaper, scalable, and distributed (unhindered by corrupt central governments) The parenthetical comment concedes my point. The West has provided enough resources to solve those problems a couple of times, yet they're not solved. Why would solving them more efficiently make any difference next time? Yes, I realize that you're putting a lot of weight on distributed, but the relevant people mastered retail theft and corruption - that's how they got into a position to do wholesale. And yes, it's a fantastic technological challenge. My point is that solving it won't solve the problems.