tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post1074757712970565627..comments2024-03-28T03:11:22.839-07:00Comments on PHILANTHROPY 2173: Worldwide wealth...and lack thereofLucy Bernholzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-34110015328222795232006-12-12T14:23:00.000-08:002006-12-12T14:23:00.000-08:00Personally I have long seen global poverty as the ...Personally I have long seen global poverty as the baseline issue for all the others. This conclusion was driven by my years in environmental work and the gradual realization that the restoration and protection of natural systems is enabled rather than prevented by a society's becoming what we now call "developed." The same, it turns out, is true of many other important subjects.<br /><br />That logic leads inexorably to the importance of distinguishing _absolute_ poverty from _relative_ poverty; the human and other impacts of each are not at all the same. With regard to absolute poverty, arguably the most important question is not what the distribution of wealth is at any given moment in time but where it's heading: what is the trend line?<br /><br />Hence at a recent progressive symposium in Chicago I was fascinated by a presentation by Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue and The Well, and author of "The Clock of the Long Now" among other books. It was basically a synthesis of the first page of this article:<br />http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=14406&ch=biztech<br />and the core of this one:<br />http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/06109?pg=0<br />[free registration required but the article is worth the trouble, very interesting]Paul Bottshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18408795160241389856noreply@blogger.com