“We now know that the secret to curing hunger and poverty is capitalism and free trade. We have seen that demonstrated irrefutably in East Asia, which has experienced the greatest alleviation of poverty in the history of man. In half a century, places like Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have gone from subsistence to First World status. And now free markets and free trade are lifting tens of millions of people out of poverty in India and China”. –Charles Krauthammer, in an old article titled, How Times Have Changed, where he takes Democrats to task for standing against the #1 cure for poverty
I actually have been to India and China the past two years. I can’t tell you what it was like previously, but the poverty is ptetty striking in both of these countries.
Yeah, many people are surprised to find out that China, for example, is still around 10% of our economy. When you factor in the much larger amount of people they have you realize how really poor that country still is.
But both the economies of China and India are rising rapidly, to such an extent, that some people have started speculating as to when (not if) they will pass us up. While I don’t think that is anything to worry about now, it does show what free trade and even small capitalist changes can do to a country. It’s enough to make even the communists supporters of capitalism now…
Yeah, I can’t see how anyone seriously defends communism. The only people who do better in communist nations are the few people in power who gain the benefits of the rigged system and are free to live lawlessly while oppressing any dissenters.
I can understand that someone may want to increase the equity of an economic system, but to prefer a totalitarian, oppresive government is absurd.