My crib in Santiago

[Dragon]

Ashtray's with matches in the room.  I can't remember the last time I saw those.  Nice view of the city and mountains.  Enjoy your time there.

[rogwar]

This is a video of the kind of stuff I work with. It is at the Spence mine where I was at last Thursday. Talk about advanced!

[dedalos]

Considering that most of the world does live in shacks, especially outside the few major cities that might exist in whatever country and sometimes within those cities. It's not difficult to understand where the ideas come from.

  another idiot that never left the corn fields

[eagl]

What's with the book on the bed?  You feeling a little paranoid lately? 

[saggs]

another idiot that never left the corn fields

Obviously you've never been outside of the rich half of the major cities in South America.

Many cities in Brazil actually have walls built up so that the rich part of the city doesn't have to look at the cardboard shanty-towns that make up the rest of it.  Poverty rates in many South American countries are around 25-30%.   And "poverty" there does not even compare to "poverty" in the US or Europe.  In the US you can own a car, a TV, a cell phone, and live in a 2 bedroom apartment with running water and heat and still be considered under the poverty line.  In South America poverty is living in a cardboard shack and eating refuse that others throw out.

So don't be so quick to judge, I'd say that gyrene's statement is very true in places like South American, Africa and Southeast Asia.

[dedalos]

Obviously you've never been outside of the rich half of the major cities in South America.

Many cities in Brazil actually have walls built up so that the rich part of the city doesn't have to look at the cardboard shanty-towns that make up the rest of it.  Poverty rates in many South American countries are around 25-30%.   And "poverty" there does not even compare to "poverty" in the US or Europe.  In the US you can own a car, a TV, a cell phone, and live in a 2 bedroom apartment with running water and heat and still be considered under the poverty line.  In South America poverty is living in a cardboard shack and eating refuse that others throw out.

So don't be so quick to judge, I'd say that gyrene's statement is very true in places like South American, Africa and Southeast Asia.

I had no idea that Brazil represents the rest of the world.  My bad

[allaire]

I'm going to chime in here.  Look at Addis Abba, Ethiopia.  It's the capitol and 75% of the city is shanty towns.  The rest of the country isn't any better.  While there are shacks here in the US like Saggs said people below the poverty line here are still much better off than those in other countries.  If you look at it there is bad no matter where you go in the world.  It's just how bad that it is that changes by the country.

[saggs]

I had no idea that Brazil represents the rest of the world.  My bad

Not just Brazil, but also most of South America, all of Africa, all of Southeast Asia, most of Central Asia, the Polynesian Islands, etc.

With the exceptions of North America, Europe, Australia and a few oil rich nations like the UAE in the middle east, most of the rest of the world is pretty poor by European or North American standards.

But like I said, they have different standards of poverty in those places.  For only $10,000 a year, you could live like a king in many parts of the world.

[saggs]

This is a video of the kind of stuff I work with. It is at the Spence mine where I was at last Thursday. Talk about advanced!

Pretty neat.

I've always wanted to take a ski vacation to Chili.  Some of the resorts down there look amazing. 

[dedalos]

Not just Brazil, but also most of South America, all of Africa, all of Southeast Asia, most of Central Asia, the Polynesian Islands, etc.

With the exceptions of North America, Europe, Australia and a few oil rich nations like the UAE in the middle east, most of the rest of the world is pretty poor by European or North American standards.

But like I said, they have different standards of poverty in those places.  For only $10,000 a year, you could live like a king in many parts of the world.

Going back to Brazil, that's like saying  the US is building high rises to hide this behind them



I am not saying there are no poor people in south America or the world.  Saying that the rest of the world is living in mud huts is wrong, obnoxious, arrogant, ignorant . . . . should I go on?