Re: Prosperity

From: D. F. Siemens, Jr. (dfsiemensjr@juno.com)
Date: Tue Jul 01 2003 - 01:13:57 EDT

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    Glenn,
    Having grown up in Ecuador, I have some insight on how folks in the third
    world make it. The missionaries had more income than the average
    national, with a rent allowance for a better quality house, etc. But it
    was a rare occasion indeed that they bought a can of fruit. Even then, US
    products were prohibitively expensive, but Chile produced good quality at
    half the price. But even this lay beyond the means of most nationals.
    They lived on local produce, which varied with the region. In the
    mountains, corn, barley, potatoes and other local crops were staples.
    /Machica/, toasted barley flour, was very common, with Indian mothers
    tossing some back to the baby on her back. On the coast, plantains,
    bananas, chirimoyas, citrus, and then like were consumed in season. There
    were fish in the rivers and ocean. Many kept a few chickens.

    Housing was adobe or /pes a terre/ one or two room shacks in the
    highlands. In Esmeraldas on the coast, the bark cuts of balsa were
    discarded, but could be set together to form a shelter. Otherwise the
    used bamboo or palm, with thatched roofs where scorpions and other vermin
    could live.

    An important factor is that local produce prices do not compare with
    those in the first world countries. If a hand of bananas only costs the
    equivalent of a penny, the pittance that they earn goes much further than
    most of us can imagine. Another difference is that they were kept busier
    meeting the minimum needs.
    Dave

    On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 20:17:58 -0500 "Glenn Morton"
    <glennmorton@entouch.net> writes:
    One can play this game endlessly. Having worked China, the UK, and
    having spent a fair amount of time in the norther deserts of Mexico doing
    geological work, I have seen lifestyles from a variety of culture, rather
    close up. My observation is that even the poor in the US are relatively
    prosperous by world standards. In Scotland, the median income is 400
    pounds per week (~`$640/week. The Scottish Executive site says:

    <snip>
    In the northern deserts of Mexico, I simply don't know how those people
    make it.


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