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The thing is though, that GDP is correlated with all those good things he mentions. It is wealthy countries with high GDP that have higher quality education, ti
by RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
The thing is though, that GDP is correlated with all those good things he mentions. It is wealthy countries with high GDP that have higher quality education, time and interest for poetry, less corruption, improved child mortality, improved air quality, and more equal, stable marriages, than countries with low GDP. Countries with high GDP are also the ones that care about the environment. Getting from low GDP to high GDP can be messy, but once a country has high GDP, it starts caring more about the environment. A good example of this is China, who is much more concerned now about air quality and pollution, than it was a decade ago.
- EL_Loco 6y agoThe real worthwile goal is having a high GDP /per capita/. If you take the top countries by GDP alone, you have China, India, Brazil, US. None of them are at the top in quality of life measurements.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y agoAgree. We want to distribute the pie with equity, but GDP is still probably a pretty good measure of how much pie there is.
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago> time and interest for poetry I agree with your overall point, but it is a mistake to see poetry as a product of development. The Persian-speaking region is among the most poetry-mad of all peoples on earth, but rarely have they been wealthy. And the Manas, the epic-poetry tradition of Kyrgyzstan that has persisted for centuries, is losing ground among younger generations precisely because of access to modern luxuries like television and the internet. Moreover, when Milman Parry and Albert Lord wanted to study firsthand the kind of techniques that gave rise to Homer’s poetry, they headed for what was then among the poorest parts of Europe. The list could do on and on.