The U.S. got to be the biggest economic power because it has so many people (third most populous country in the world) and it had a big head start on the European powers after they got destroyed in WWII. At the time, China and India were still horribly underdeveloped, so they couldn't compete. Now they can.

whoa this thread totally changed last time i checked in

there's a random talking thread for a reason people!

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Originally posted by Alex France has over 60 million people (Wait, was that sarcasm about being an ignorant American? )

It is more than the entire population of Canada, though.

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles The U.S. got to be the biggest economic power because it has so many people (third most populous country in the world) and it had a big head start on the European powers after they got destroyed in WWII. At the time, China and India were still horribly underdeveloped, so they couldn't compete. Now they can.

I'm aware of that, but still, the american model has stood for several decades and beat the radically opposite model of the Soviet Union in a straight fight.

38 million poor people doesn't seem to me like a too harsh price to pay for it. Sure, easy to say for me as I'm not one of them. But it seems a tiny percentage of the population, which in general is way better off. And what access do these poor people have to charitable resources compared to, say, poor people in the heart of Africa?

The one thing that I struggle to understand in the american model is lack of a socialised healthcare system. I really don't understand how can poor people live without it. Over here we have free healthcare and free education until the end of highschool. That's the way it should be IMO, but unfortunately seems to hinder us back as these systems are poorly structured, causing massive expenses to the state.

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Originally posted by noikeee I'm aware of that, but still, the american model has stood for several decades and beat the radically opposite model of the Soviet Union in a straight fight.

This is because pure socialism is shit for an economy. That's just the way it is.

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38 million poor people doesn't seem to me like a too harsh price to pay for it. Sure, easy to say for me as I'm not one of them.

That is over 10% of our population. And I never tire of saying that poverty affects non-poor people in lots of ways, too. A country pays a price for extreme poverty in the form of increased crime rates (and the attendant high costs of policing), decreased communal solidarity, shitty education system, increased sickness and strain on the health system. Much of this stuff eventually gets paid for in taxes that land on the non-poor.

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Originally posted by Alex France has over 60 million people (Wait, was that sarcasm about being an ignorant American? )

France, Belgium, Liechtenstein... one of those French-speaking places.

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles That is over 10% of our population.

I really don't know what's wrong with my maths today. I thought it would be like, 1%. The US have 3 billion people

But I had no idea there were this many. What makes a person "poor" by such definition, btw?

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Originally posted by noikeee But I had no idea there were this many. What makes a person "poor" by such definition, btw?

This is what I am questioning. How is 13% of our population in poverty?

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

Poverty is a moving goalpost; meaningless.

Ask the folks in Kibera how they would enjoy what we call "poverty" and you'll see the emptiness of the concept.

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Originally posted by Arbiter Poverty is a moving goalpost; meaningless. Ask the folks in Kibera how they would enjoy what we call "poverty" and you'll see the emptiness of the concept.

Not just that, what the national "poverty" line is, may not be poverty in BFE OK.

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

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Originally posted by noikeee I really don't know what's wrong with my maths today. I thought it would be like, 1%. The US have 3 billion people But I had no idea there were this many. What makes a person "poor" by such definition, btw?

Currently $10,400 for one person, $21,200 for a four-person family.

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/08poverty.shtml