Comments by "Dennis" (@Dennis-nc3vw) on "Lessons from Africa" video.

  1. It's pretty sad to see libertarians embrace Broken Window Economics, because that's exactly what you're doing when you vilify charity. Saying "We'll stop giving them shoes, so the shoe maker will have a job" is no better than saying "We'll break their windows, so the glaziers can have a job."
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  2. Africa also has some of the highest minimum wages (measured as a proportion of GDP per capita) in the world.
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  3.  Birdy12396  It's called "creative destruction." It's how all economies develop. In 1800 85% of Americans were farmers. Now its about 1.5% because technology allowed a small number of farmers to provide food for everyone. Should we have prevented that technology from being developed so 78.5% of Americans wouldn't lose their jobs?
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  4.  @khaccanhle1930  No, you're thinking with the "Broken Window Economics Fallacy." If someone gets free shoes, that hurts the shoemaker. But they also save money and that leads them to spend money on someone else's business, like the local farmer.
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  5.  Birdy12396  You're literally saying that reducing a demand hurts the economy. That's Keynesian Economics 101. If no one is buying from shoes locally, local people's labor shifts to cater to people's other desires. By your logic if we should never have created the car because it put people who work at horse stables out of work.
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  6.  @fukcensorship5762  Statistics show conservatives give more to charity than liberals you drooling lobotomite.
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  7.  Birdy12396  But having easier access to a resource does not cause unemployment. People will spend the money they save somewhere else. If America found a way to turn air into fuel, would you try to shut it down to save the jobs of people working in the petroleum industry? A systemic change is better for Africa, no doubt, but that doesn't mean charity is "killing them with kindness." People who say those who donate are "just trying to feel better about themselves" are obviously projecting.
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  8.  Birdy12396  The OP said these charities "kill with kindness." That's what I take issue with. There are better ways to help than free clothes, but that doesn't mean these charities hurt people. What happens when these charities dry up and move on? Obviously that's not going to happen any time soon because these charities have been going on for decades. People crying about evil philanthropists are the ones who make that most likely to happen. Regardless, I find it very hard to believe that if Americans found a free but finite resource, like a giant lake of oil, libertarians would say we shouldn't use it because "what happens when the oil runs out?"
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  9.  Birdy12396  That's ideal, but if you don't have to spend money on clothes, you have more money to spend on school.
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  10. People saying we should stop giving Africans things because it destroys local businesses are invoking the Broken Window Economics Fallacy. "Take away your shoes, I'll give someone else a job" is no better than saying "Break your window, I'll give the glazier a job." It's truly sad to see this sort of talk coming from libertarians.
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  11. Progressives always assume the third world has less regulations, not more. They assume nations with sweatshops have no minimum wages, which is completely false. Nigeria and the Philiphines have some of the highest minimum wages in the world measured as a portion of GDP per capita.
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  12. Charity is not the ideal solution, but that doesn't mean its bad. There is NOTHING more Keynesian than saying "Don't give them shoes because you'll destroy the local shoe business."
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  13. They DON'T see how damaging this is because the left tells them to blame all their problems on colonialism.
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  14. How is that relevant? Bad policy created by low IQ is no different than bad policy created by high IQ. And bad policy created by high IQ people has produced the kind of suffering we see in Africa countless times throughout history.
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  15. You are invoking the Broken Window Economics fallacy. Saying "don't give them free stuff because you'll destroy local businesses" you're no better than the Keynesians who say "crime is good for the economy because it gives the policeman a job."
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