| "in a world that’s as fabulously rich as ours, obscene" ??? Wealth is mostly a function of intelligent social organization. Why are we so much more vastly wealthy than we were 100 years go? Just because we pump more gas? No - we're smarter. Wealth is what a country generates, not what it has. It's not like a 'pile of gold' that we have that magically turns into iPhones. Most places that have extreme poverty are rife with systematic problems. Total lack of social organization on most levels, corruption, missing or 'never existed' institutions (education, justice, civic etc.). Lack of literacy, education. An absent, stupid or corrupt elite. Etc. etc. Swedes don't have any real natural resources, not particularly fertile land. They are 'rich' because they are organized. It's a very hard thing to 'pass on' to other places. |