The prospects of extreme poverty being eliminated by 2030

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://news.yahoo.com/new-report-says-extreme-poverty-could-be-eliminated-by-2030-023809373.html

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Multimedia/Interactives/2013/global_poverty/fig101.jpg

[Thirsty Crow]

First, it was the glorious idea of eradicating poverty as such. Now, it's extreme poverty. Makes one wonder just how could the criteria and concepts shift during the course of time to make that possible. Yeah I'm being cynical, but I hold little faith in the developmental potentials of contemporary capitalism, even in cases of the worst kind of destitution.

[tuwix]

http://news.yahoo.com/new-report-says-extreme-poverty-could-be-eliminated-by-2030-023809373.html



I started to read about elimination of extreme poverty or famine about 20 years ago. But let's be serious: Only elimination of capitalism will make it possible.

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

I started to read about elimination of extreme poverty or famine about 20 years ago. But let's be serious: Only elimination of capitalism will make it possible.

Not at all, extreme poverty exists largely due to negative encroachments on substance and semi-feudal societies by capitalism. Since such societies are few and far between then it is not too unreasonable to say that the advent of unversal global capitalism would remove "extreme" poverty. But of course since capitalism has been tearing down feudalism since it's beginning I don't find this particularly impressive or exciting. What would be exciting if they were able to eliminate the potential for crisis's or the existence of structural unemployment by 2030. for those would be tasks that are truly incompatible with capitalism.

[Popular Front of Judea]

"Extreme poverty" is being defined as living on less than $US1.25 a day. So yes it is doable under actually existing capitalism, as noted above.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Living on less than 1.25 a day is pretty extreme.

[Popular Front of Judea]

Living on less than 1.25 a day is pretty extreme.

Eh not so much if you live in a functional subsistence economy. Of course there aren't too many of those these days.

(Reading Bageant's Rainbow Pie it is striking to see how little money people once lived on in this country,)

[tuwix]

"Extreme poverty" is being defined as living on less than $US1.25 a day. So yes it is doable under actually existing capitalism, as noted above.

If we define it this way, then we can recognize that there is no extreme poverty now when we take a threshold from 1960s.

But I mean real one. If one suffers a famine but he can afford mobile phone, he's in conditions of extreme poverty. And world "fights" famine and extreme poverty for 60 years and there were many reports suggesting when it will be succeded. But under conditions of neoliberal capitalism I don't see any chances to eliminate it.