4 ms·

The bottom billion are mostly self-sufficient farmers or hunter-gatherers. Money is only relevant in an interconnected modern economy. A small tribe of hunter-g

The bottom billion are mostly self-sufficient farmers or hunter-gatherers. Money is only relevant in an interconnected modern economy. A small tribe of hunter-gatherers or a small farming village has a GDP of 0, but they have the basics covered.

pjc50 3y ago
There are basically zero hunter-gatherers left except in national parks in a few places; like elephants and tigers the farmers and settlers tend to hunt them to extinction given the chance. Even the bottom billion are probably a lot more incorporated into the state than you would expect.
sjducb 3y ago
This is true until they need something from the outside world. Having no money is a problem if you need a doctor.
- slothtrop 3y ago
  They (hunter-gatherers) would be the first to tell you they don't need something from the outside world.
  - shellfishgene 3y ago
    The hunter-gatherer who finds out it takes a dentist 20 minutes to make his year long toothache go away will quickly disagree.
    - slothtrop 3y ago
      There are cruder means to get rid of tooth aches. You can't think of a better example than that?
  - sjducb 3y ago
    I just visited a tea plantation where the average salary was about $2.50/day and people were raising kids on that. The average per person is less than $2/day. Those people know about the outside world, send their kids to school and are aware that they can't afford to go to the doctor.
slothtrop 3y ago
In large part farmers. Their lifestyle encompasses what seems to be romanticized by primitivist anarcho-communists and other radical leftists. If the only thing missing in this picture is "hospitals", then it has nothing to do with their wages. The crowd that bemoans consumerism and proselytizes that we "don't need" x/y/z also thinks that these independent farmers, who mostly don't participate in global trade (the poorest, I mean), need more money. Not to be conflated with what UN defines as "extreme poverty" which entails inability to provision food effectively. And the way they want to give them money, is through the benevolent progressive imperialism of Communist takeover.

pjc50 3y ago

There are basically zero hunter-gatherers left except in national parks in a few places; like elephants and tigers the farmers and settlers tend to hunt them to extinction given the chance. Even the bottom billion are probably a lot more incorporated into the state than you would expect.

sjducb 3y ago

This is true until they need something from the outside world. Having no money is a problem if you need a doctor.

slothtrop 3y ago
They (hunter-gatherers) would be the first to tell you they don't need something from the outside world.
- shellfishgene 3y ago
  The hunter-gatherer who finds out it takes a dentist 20 minutes to make his year long toothache go away will quickly disagree.
  - slothtrop 3y ago
    There are cruder means to get rid of tooth aches. You can't think of a better example than that?
- sjducb 3y ago
  I just visited a tea plantation where the average salary was about $2.50/day and people were raising kids on that. The average per person is less than $2/day. Those people know about the outside world, send their kids to school and are aware that they can't afford to go to the doctor.

slothtrop 3y ago

In large part farmers. Their lifestyle encompasses what seems to be romanticized by primitivist anarcho-communists and other radical leftists. If the only thing missing in this picture is "hospitals", then it has nothing to do with their wages. The crowd that bemoans consumerism and proselytizes that we "don't need" x/y/z also thinks that these independent farmers, who mostly don't participate in global trade (the poorest, I mean), need more money. Not to be conflated with what UN defines as "extreme poverty" which entails inability to provision food effectively. And the way they want to give them money, is through the benevolent progressive imperialism of Communist takeover.