Quote:
Originally posted by Dragonlich
Actually, I think you're mistaken. For most of man's history, people lived by the grace of nature (/god). If there was some extreme weather, people could die, just like that. That was the case for pretty much anyone on this planet. People didn't grow very old, because of the hardships they faced every day. Now, some countries and peoples managed to grow more prosperous; mainly because of the good environment they lived in. Some peoples didn't fare as well, because they were situated in "bad" areas, with poor soil, bad environments, inadequate water supply, etc. That is a fact.
You state that almost every country has enough resources to feed itself. That may be the case, but is usually NOT true for many of the countries in the third world; precisely those you point at for your suffering and sorrow. These countries usually have poor soil, and hardly any natural resources; that's the reason they're so damn poor in the first place! Of course, it doesn't help that modern medicine, combined with a cultural aversion to birth control (Christianity?), leads to a population explosion, precisely in those countries that are least able to feed all those people.
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Dragonlich,
Your facts are incorrect.
First of all, compare a world map with the resources listed on one map and the wealth on another.
The poorest countries have the most natural resources--I won't belate this point, look at a map.
Secondly, Early civilizations were nomadic and if people lived in places with bad soil they moved.
Thirdly, notwithstanding technological advances in Western countries, ancient peoples lived as long, longer, and sometimes shorter lives than current trends.
We find accounts of "primitive" peoples (and still do in undeveloped parts of the world) living to a hundred, ancient Greeks living at least into their 60s, and the main players in ancient Rome and Jerusalem lived well into their 60-70s.
True, medical care has improved and dietary habits have become part of the popular culture--yet, that doesn't mean people automatically live longer. In fact, a more holistic look at age trends indicates that life expectancies decreased during the industrial revolution. Obviously the fact that our life expectancies are
returning to rates similar to what they were before industrialization is not a glowing tribute to "progress."
edit: *sigh*, I probably can't expect people to whip some maps out, they'll probably just write this statement off as full of shit.
For example,rubber, diamonds, iron, oil, cocoa, and on and on come from Africa. Oh, wonders never cease...here's a map
World Map with information on resources
and here is a great collection of maps produced by the CIA:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world.html
you might have to dig around in that one a bit...