Not entirely true. I believe the study was to show that people are more worried about relative wealth than absolute wealth, not the purchasing power of money.
The problem with your argument is when you say "having a million dollars today isn't enough to be considered rich anymore". Anyone that looks objectively at the matter will be able to realize that a millionaire today has a much better quality of life than the millionaire of 20, 30 years ago. Technology allows ever cheaper devices that are supposed to increase productivity. This is wealth, and that is available to everyone, rich or poor. New drugs and medicines are much cheaper now and available to anyone, rich or poor. Taking that into account, I'd say that the wealth gap is (and historically, has always been) narrowing, not widening.
The fact is that people need to feel rich. That's what the study demonstrates. This is what is bad.
Let me tell you a little about Brazil. I am from Brazil, and I can tell you that the basic cost of living here is amazingly low. According to latest reports, the average income in Brazil is slightly below R$1000,00 (+/- U$450,00). If you're single, that money is enough to pay your food, housing, public transportation... you can even pay a health plan (which Brazilians shouldn't, the health system here is far from perfect but much better than you see on the news) and have some entertainment, and still save money.
The issue here: people don't. Go to a favela and you see people with expensive cell phones that takes them a year to pay. Satellite Dishes abound. Large TVs paid using store credit and a 8% monthly interest rate. Today you can even find people with a home computer and internet access, to which they pay a monthly flat fee.
What is strange is that, thinking about it this way, even the poorer got some wealth. What they don't have is status. They look at their home and compare with middle class and think they are bad. A boy living in a favela trying to impress a girl will feel frustrated by not being able to take her out in a fancy car or to the hottest place in town. This is what the study in the article talks about. Relative wealth. This along with lack of moral, repressive police and bad basic education is what is leading people to live criminal lives, not the wealth gap.
That said, I do think that the author of the article is right when he says that differences in relative wealth may lead to conflicting classes, as I do believe that there are correlations between crime rates and disparates in wealth.
Ps.: As for Grandma, tell her to come live in Brazil. She will like the weather, and her pension should be more than enough to live considerably better than in the States.
What's the problem with the influx of Brazilian users?
Ok, I am Brazilian and I know very well that Orkut and "flog" sites are annoying as hell, putting into account the exaggerated number of teenagers-with-lots-of-free-time-with-nothing-bett er-to-do-than-surfing. But the problem is not about them being Brazilian, is it?
MySpace is full of teens, all (or the grand majority) from America, and suffers from the same problems that every other successful social site does: the average user sucks.
That's a whole other issue, and one that does not care about the nationality. Reddit had a post this week in which someone complained about the drop of quality in posted content. The simple explanation would be the same: crappy average user. And as far as I know, reddit is still dominated by american users.
In short: America, say hello to globalization and its exotic creatures.
Subtract 15 from your age, and you may find out how old you are for MySpace. Subtract 82 from your IQ score, and you may find out how smart your are for said website.
Are we just fine now? Really? I guess maybe a few of us would disagree...
I concede to the fact that, on average, the quality of life of every being in all civilization has improved over time. Slavery is no longer accepted, social inequalities are diminishing, etc, etc.
But to say that our civilization is a proven success... that's a bit too much, no?
Yeah, yeah... it is only meant to be a OpenStep implementation. Cocoa had lot of additions/improvements since that time. I know, I know... If I really wanted, I should shut up and start coding.
Anyway, Apple said Core{Audio, Image, Data} won't change that much now. Doesn't it feel the right time for *Step programmers start thinking about a free implementation of such APIs?
I, for one, would love to program one Cocoa app and get it running using Gnustep libraries.
- Money saved from not acquiring licenses: R$28mi(~US$10.5mi)
Some ranting:
- There is way too much hype about this technological policy in Brazil. The largest part of public spending in IT has never been on acquiring office licenses or MS-Windows stations. The largest piece of the pie has always gone to enterprise-wide systems. Unysis and Oracle are everywhere in government servers, and they get the big bucks. 28 million compared to a billionaire budget is pocket change. If they wanted to actually reduce costs, they would have to go after these guys.
- This stupid leftist (real left, not the Democrat Party kinda thing) government decided they should go after Microsoft because they are part of the Evil Empire. As an example, Lula refused to meet Bill Gates at Davos, just to show that they don't need MS anymore. He might get huge support from the open source crowd, but still think it was moronic attitude, politically speaking.
- Famine or hunger has hardly been a real problem in Brazil. Poverty and terrible distribution of wealth certainly are a bigger cause of concern. And the budget shows that: 0,1% of the budget spending hardly makes a "War on Hunger", as our beloved president wanted.
- As someone said above: Brazil is not Sudan. It has a huge, diverse economy, and is not by dictating one particular policy that they are going to solve our bigger issues.
If you prefer some other company that you're more familiar with: IBM, Motorola and Freescale are expanding their operations in Campinas, southeast of Brazil. Yeah, you're (definately) not going to make a 6-figure income here. But with the current exchange rate, you won't miss North America that much.
I am brazilian. And it's hard to explain that the worst issue in Brazil is not about poverty, but rather the distribution of wealth. Middle/upper class does have a lifestyle that compares to any "developed" country. Yeah, maybe 15% percent of our population can't even read, or 30% live below poverty level, but that is not the absolute situation. Thing is, it doesn't matter how much growth Brazil has. It matters if this growth is oriented towards the poor(er) population.
And most important, the policy our government is taking is not about making money, it is about losing dependency on external technology. Being able to send a satellite with "native" technology to space is much more important than selling a launch platform.
Google business is about getting as many people using their services, and getting sensible information out of it. The protocol is not important for that. Getting lots of people using their client should be.
They are doing log searching in AIM, but that is just because of the user base. What would be really interesting (for them) is getting everyone to use a gmail account, tie it up with a orkut account (yeah, it sucks big time now, but it is a excelent way to get someone's personal profile) and, by continuous use of both, get more and more information about the potential customer. The IM client (whether Jabber-based or a new protocol) would be just another possibility for a user to join the "Google way" of using such services.
If Google is wise enough to keep the "don't be evil" motto, there is no reason for them not to succeed.
Both are completely orthogonal... and show exactly how the environment would benefit if we could offer a truce...
The ozone hole was caused by the emission of CFC, and the industry accepted the regulation and started to abolish most of the products that needed CFC gases. This was easy to do, since all they did was change the gas that filled most of motors, radiators and airsprays... Once we got CFC emission under control, nature could easily recover from the damage weve done.
Industrial pollution, OTOH, is a whole other beast. There is no way to reduce or substitute the emission of CO2, unless you stop burning the freaking fossil fuel. And who wants to do that now?
Those who can offer a cheaper alternative, hands up... No one? Even with a $50 barrel?
Come on, you can get be serious. Alright, BeFS is great, but BeOS was single-user, which simplifies design a whole lot more.
Not to mention all the pain that it is to redesign a file system with all the features that M$ is trying to push, and still be able to call WinFS, at least, as secure as NTFS.
Slashdot Mirror
Not entirely true. I believe the study was to show that people are more worried about relative wealth than absolute wealth, not the purchasing power of money.
The problem with your argument is when you say "having a million dollars today isn't enough to be considered rich anymore". Anyone that looks objectively at the matter will be able to realize that a millionaire today has a much better quality of life than the millionaire of 20, 30 years ago. Technology allows ever cheaper devices that are supposed to increase productivity. This is wealth, and that is available to everyone, rich or poor. New drugs and medicines are much cheaper now and available to anyone, rich or poor. Taking that into account, I'd say that the wealth gap is (and historically, has always been) narrowing, not widening.
The fact is that people need to feel rich. That's what the study demonstrates. This is what is bad.
Let me tell you a little about Brazil. I am from Brazil, and I can tell you that the basic cost of living here is amazingly low. According to latest reports, the average income in Brazil is slightly below R$1000,00 (+/- U$450,00). If you're single, that money is enough to pay your food, housing, public transportation... you can even pay a health plan (which Brazilians shouldn't, the health system here is far from perfect but much better than you see on the news) and have some entertainment, and still save money.
The issue here: people don't. Go to a favela and you see people with expensive cell phones that takes them a year to pay. Satellite Dishes abound. Large TVs paid using store credit and a 8% monthly interest rate. Today you can even find people with a home computer and internet access, to which they pay a monthly flat fee.
What is strange is that, thinking about it this way, even the poorer got some wealth. What they don't have is status. They look at their home and compare with middle class and think they are bad. A boy living in a favela trying to impress a girl will feel frustrated by not being able to take her out in a fancy car or to the hottest place in town. This is what the study in the article talks about. Relative wealth. This along with lack of moral, repressive police and bad basic education is what is leading people to live criminal lives, not the wealth gap.
That said, I do think that the author of the article is right when he says that differences in relative wealth may lead to conflicting classes, as I do believe that there are correlations between crime rates and disparates in wealth.
Ps.: As for Grandma, tell her to come live in Brazil. She will like the weather, and her pension should be more than enough to live considerably better than in the States.
Maybe because it's free, and for a lot the people the risk is minimum?
What's the problem with the influx of Brazilian users?
t er-to-do-than-surfing. But the problem is not about them being Brazilian, is it?
Ok, I am Brazilian and I know very well that Orkut and "flog" sites are annoying as hell, putting into account the exaggerated number of teenagers-with-lots-of-free-time-with-nothing-bet
MySpace is full of teens, all (or the grand majority) from America, and suffers from the same problems that every other successful social site does: the average user sucks.
That's a whole other issue, and one that does not care about the nationality. Reddit had a post this week in which someone complained about the drop of quality in posted content. The simple explanation would be the same: crappy average user. And as far as I know, reddit is still dominated by american users.
In short: America, say hello to globalization and its exotic creatures.
Subtract 15 from your age, and you may find out how old you are for MySpace.
Subtract 82 from your IQ score, and you may find out how smart your are for said website.
Hope it helps...
Are we just fine now? Really? I guess maybe a few of us would disagree...
I concede to the fact that, on average, the quality of life of every being in all civilization has improved over time. Slavery is no longer accepted, social inequalities are diminishing, etc, etc.
But to say that our civilization is a proven success... that's a bit too much, no?
Professionaly, it is not only hard, but also a suicidal move. Read some Joel to understand.
Why not put focus on Gnustep, then?
Yeah, yeah... it is only meant to be a OpenStep implementation. Cocoa had lot of additions/improvements since that time. I know, I know... If I really wanted, I should shut up and start coding.
Anyway, Apple said Core{Audio, Image, Data} won't change that much now. Doesn't it feel the right time for *Step programmers start thinking about a free implementation of such APIs?
I, for one, would love to program one Cocoa app and get it running using Gnustep libraries.
Still don't get /. moderation.
What is funny about parent's post? He is absolutely right in his point, and justifies it.
C'mon people.
Some numbers:
- Budget on Federal IT spending: R$1,9bi (~US$ 720 mi)
- Budget to spend on hunger and income rdistribuition iniciatives : R$1,1bi(~US$415mi)
- Brazil's GNP in 2003: R$1,5trillion(~US$565bi)
- National Debt/GNP ratio: 58%.
- Money saved from not acquiring licenses: R$28mi(~US$10.5mi)
Some ranting:
- There is way too much hype about this technological policy in Brazil. The largest part of public spending in IT has never been on acquiring office licenses or MS-Windows stations. The largest piece of the pie has always gone to enterprise-wide systems. Unysis and Oracle are everywhere in government servers, and they get the big bucks. 28 million compared to a billionaire budget is pocket change. If they wanted to actually reduce costs, they would have to go after these guys.
- This stupid leftist (real left, not the Democrat Party kinda thing) government decided they should go after Microsoft because they are part of the Evil Empire. As an example, Lula refused to meet Bill Gates at Davos, just to show that they don't need MS anymore. He might get huge support from the open source crowd, but still think it was moronic attitude, politically speaking.
- Famine or hunger has hardly been a real problem in Brazil. Poverty and terrible distribution of wealth certainly are a bigger cause of concern. And the budget shows that: 0,1% of the budget spending hardly makes a "War on Hunger", as our beloved president wanted.
- As someone said above: Brazil is not Sudan. It has a huge, diverse economy, and is not by dictating one particular policy that they are going to solve our bigger issues.
Gotta love general american stupidity...
192 is the number of countries affiliated with UN. Forgot the others that are not?
FIFA, for instance, has 204 members. And, last time I checked, they were all in this planet.
Hey... You forgot to mention the women.
Anyway, here's a preliminary career menu. Choose your destiny:
Aerospace
Petrochemical
Agrobusiness
If you prefer some other company that you're more familiar with: IBM, Motorola and Freescale are expanding their operations in Campinas, southeast of Brazil. Yeah, you're (definately) not going to make a 6-figure income here. But with the current exchange rate, you won't miss North America that much.
I just need to say this. How can one of the top ten biggest economies in the world be considered poor?
I am brazilian. And it's hard to explain that the worst issue in Brazil is not about poverty, but rather the distribution of wealth. Middle/upper class does have a lifestyle that compares to any "developed" country. Yeah, maybe 15% percent of our population can't even read, or 30% live below poverty level, but that is not the absolute situation. Thing is, it doesn't matter how much growth Brazil has. It matters if this growth is oriented towards the poor(er) population.
And most important, the policy our government is taking is not about making money, it is about losing dependency on external technology. Being able to send a satellite with "native" technology to space is much more important than selling a launch platform.
Google business is about getting as many people using their services, and getting sensible information out of it. The protocol is not important for that. Getting lots of people using their client should be.
They are doing log searching in AIM, but that is just because of the user base. What would be really interesting (for them) is getting everyone to use a gmail account, tie it up with a orkut account (yeah, it sucks big time now, but it is a excelent way to get someone's personal profile) and, by continuous use of both, get more and more information about the potential customer. The IM client (whether Jabber-based or a new protocol) would be just another possibility for a user to join the "Google way" of using such services.
If Google is wise enough to keep the "don't be evil" motto, there is no reason for them not to succeed.
Both are completely orthogonal... and show exactly how the environment would benefit if we could offer a truce...
The ozone hole was caused by the emission of CFC, and the industry accepted the regulation and started to abolish most of the products that needed CFC gases. This was easy to do, since all they did was change the gas that filled most of motors, radiators and airsprays... Once we got CFC emission under control, nature could easily recover from the damage weve done.
Industrial pollution, OTOH, is a whole other beast. There is no way to reduce or substitute the emission of CO2, unless you stop burning the freaking fossil fuel. And who wants to do that now?
Those who can offer a cheaper alternative, hands up... No one? Even with a $50 barrel?
Try make an series expansion of exp(1). Numerical answer, with any precision you want.
Ah, the days of FORTRAN programming finally paid off.
Come on, you can get be serious. Alright, BeFS is great, but BeOS was single-user, which simplifies design a whole lot more.
Not to mention all the pain that it is to redesign a file system with all the features that M$ is trying to push, and still be able to call WinFS, at least, as secure as NTFS.