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Whenever I read sad stories about poor countries like Haiti[a], I like to ponder a hypothetical scenario: If one were a god who could, with the snap of a finge
by cs702 3y ago
Whenever I read sad stories about poor countries like Haiti[a], I like to ponder a hypothetical scenario:
If one were a god who could, with the snap of a finger, replace the country's entire population with an equal number of people, randomly sampled from a rich, diverse country (say, Canada, but any other rich, diverse country would do), how would the poor country's fortune change, if at all, over the course of a generation?
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[a] According to the World Bank, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview
- finikytou 3y agoyou can look at south africa and see those sample of people.
- bombcar 3y agoYou can look at the island that Haiti shares. Seems pretty stark.
- mglz 3y agoDo the swapped people maintain their experiences, education and general attitude towards each other?
- cs702 3y agoGreat question, very much aligned with my thinking! Yes, assume they maintain their current experience, education, and general attitude towards each other.
- mglz 3y agoThat's like an instant infusion of billions of dollars, since gainting that experience and education was paid for by the donor society. So they would almost certainly do better.
- sumeruchat 3y agoYou can easily argue it would change significantly and not because of the reasons you think. Its because “rich” people will help “rich” people become rich again and not “poor” people. Value goes where its likely to increase in worth
- nitwit005 3y agoYou've halved the gang population, but that's still probably plenty to rob all the newcomers. They'd basically need to be sent with an army to have a chance, and even then, they'd probably set up some ethnic enclave.