Last night at Civitas we had Geoff Paxton (returning to Mensa after 30 years) address us on the aspect of poverty to do with attitude.
We discussed things like wanting everything now rather than being able to defer gratification; buying everything on credit and the way the West's attitude here has changed in recent decades. We talked about the difference in fast growing China and other Asian countries with much higher savings rates.
In the past we have discussed specific programs to help homeless children; the economics of creating/solving poverty; solving poverty by reducing the price of things that poor people buy (such as by enabling the transferring money by cell phone); and the reasons to avoid welfare orientated poverty alleviation strategies.
If you have something to say on any of these issues, say it hear (or if you are in Joburg join the Civitas sig douglasjshaw@gmail.com )
Douglas J Shaw
(Chair: Joburg)
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