Christa627:

Bemused:

kaŝperanto:
It takes me such a small amount of effort to earn more in a week than most people make in a year;

Really?
That's very interesting.
Would you mind telling us how you achieve this?

That may be an exaggeration (couldn't say for sure), but compared to a lot of places, even most "poor" people in the US are pretty rich. Take my family for example. We are, and always have been, below the arbitrary federally defined "poverty level." And we are a 9-person family. Okay, so our house isn't the biggest or most beautiful one around. We still have a solid roof over our heads, cars in our driveway, gas in our cars, clothes in our closets, and food in our cupboards. We have cell phones, internet, and many other things than US citizens take for granted, but compared to many other places, they're quite the luxuries! We don't resort to eating dirt to fill our bellies. None of us works in a place with a 1 metre high ceiling. All of us know how to read (except the babies and the 5yr old). We don't live in a cardboard box. In our country, even the hobos have access to clean drinking water if nothing else.

Some numbers from Forbes:

So if you want to do it without using PPP, there’s a handy calculator here. A simple minimum wage job ($7.25 and hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year) puts you in the top 8% of all people on the planet in terms of income. $25,000 a year puts you in the top 3%. $39,000 a year puts you in the top 1% of all humans on the planet.

Bemused:

kaŝperanto:
It takes me such a small amount of effort to earn more in a week than most people make in a year;

Really?
That's very interesting.
Would you mind telling us how you achieve this?

Mind you "most people" is dominated by 3rd world citizens who don't have running water, washing machines, cars, etc. I'll admit I'm not using any quantitative numbers here, but I can buy a washing machine with a few weeks of my salary, or a car with a few months. The vast majority of people will never earn enough to buy these things. I'm a beginning engineer, so I earn more than a lot of people my age, but there are senior-types that make 4-5 times what I do.

nornen:[cnt'd]
...
I am sorry for this rant. Reality is crueler than fiction.

----

I suppose I was being a bit deluded to separate the atrocities committed by some in the name of progress/capitalism/etc from the theoretical/ideal application of capitalistic ideas like investing in an "emerging economy". Most of these conditions seem to stem from the inadequacies of local laws/regulations (which 1st world companies no doubt knowingly exploit). If civil rights were upheld everywhere else to even half the standard they are in the first world there would be far fewer such issues.

The sheer existence of this type of exploitation while claiming to uphold our constitution seems to me as hypocritical as the existence of slavery in the US did before the civil war. Is it possible to believe all men are created equal, yet abuse weak laws in other countries to enact modern slavery? I think not.

The oppressed men want one world government, but the oppressor men want a divided world. The old saying "divide et impera" (divide and rule) means that maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into pieces (Wikipedia), the world will keep this egocentric way of life until the decay of civilizations. Esperanto and Homaranismo are the solution! Our fellow-thinker Disgustus says: "...one-world government isn't a part of Esperanto..."! Almost all of us agree that Esperanto would be a desired part of one-world government!

Check out the film by Esperanto-TV on this topic:
La Mondfederacia Movado

A Government With No Corruption

Rujo:The oppressed men want one world government, but the oppressor men want a divided world. The old saying "divide et impera" (divide and rule) means that maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into pieces (Wikipedia), the world will keep this egocentric way of life until the decay of civilizations. Esperanto and Homaranismo are the solution! Our fellow-thinker Disgustus says: "...one-world government isn't a part of Esperanto..."! Almost all of us agree that Esperanto would be a desired part of one-world government!

Divide and conquer is also how we create civilizations, new technology, new science, etc.

johanoonah:A Government With No Corruption

I had a couple Jehova's witnesses show up at my door a few months ago who greeted me with the question "Do you believe there will ever be a government with no corruption?". I was initially intrigued, but then they began their sales pitch. It was very professionally done, with an i-Pad video presentation and everything. They are also always dressed so nice.

kaŝperanto:They are also always dressed so nice.

But they stand no chance against proselytising Mormons: those are even better dressed, have even worse sunburns,... and they have basketball courts. Seriously. They do have basketball courts in front of all their churches. Other proselytising christians can go home, Mormons won. Like really, basketball courts! You can't beat that. Mormons are the Harlem Globetrotters of missionaries. Trick shot right into heaven.

Dear Jehova's Witnesses,
if you want to compete in the Proselytism Games of 2015, stop building watch towers. Build basketball courts!

yours sincerely
Nornen

P.D.: I have not even a clue about the doctrine of the Mormons, but I don't care. They have basketball courts.

My local Mormon chapel DOESN'T have a basketball court. LOL!

Regarding oppression... the biggest pushers of one world govt appear to be corporations. It would make their business easier and eliminate smaller competition.

Nephihaha:My local Mormon chapel DOESN'T have a basketball court. LOL!

Then they aren't proselytising hard enough. Right this morning at 8:45 I was waiting for a meeting to start at 9:00 and was having a smoke. Somewhere near 12th street with 4th avenue of zone 9, Guatemala City. And I was right in front of a church called "iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los últimos días". And they had... a basketball court. I really was tempted to take a photo, but I thought that a nice photo on lernu.net wouldn't justify to get me mugged and my phone stolen.