Standards of Living

Economics is fundamental to the new manifesto and is fundamental to politics. But the way most people understand economics is in how it affects them. This is the standard of living.

On my computer I keep a wallpaper of the "World at night" (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?vev1id=5826 -) showing the lights of the inhabited world. This is illustrative of the standard of living experienced by most of the people in the world. America, Europe and Japan are the most densely lit countries. South Korea stands out as an island, because North Korea is nearly in complete darkness. A look at the more densely populated areas of the globe show less light at night then we do.

The deduction I make from this illustration is that we use more energy than the rest of the world on a per capita basis. Energy defines our standard of living. Take the worst place to live in the United States (a gentlemen of my acquaintance suggested East St. Louis but I'm sure there are other places in the US that are filled with hopeless people and crime and drugs.) and offer to transport people from Sudan or Ethiopia to live there and they would find their standard of living improved beyond their wildest dreams. Unfortunately their personal safety wouldn't necessarily improve.

The point is that standard of living is relative. What we consider abject poverty in this country is considered upper middle class elsewhere.

So what is our responsibility in this?

Well, any improvements in the world standard of living have come as a result of our own economic development. When our economy stagnates the world trembles. Given enough time the world won't care and we can become a third world country, but that isn't the way I want to see our country go.

We need to understand that every good job created through American inventiveness will move overseas eventually. That's one of our top exports. We've shipped clothing, cars and computers away and more things are going. As a nation, as a people we need to recognize this and pull together for the next big thing. Personally, I think space is the place we need to go. We need to dominate the technology of spaceflight and define the economics of space.

I also think we need to define the economics of renewable energy. Between sosphisticated technology and an inexpensive way to feed the energy jones we would have a great deal to offer the world economy and still develop a higher standard of living for our poorest people.

So along with honest politicians, responsible citizenry and a tame government, our standard of living is dependent on the economic marvels we create.


Tanstaafl.