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        ID-4-3          The causes of poverty.        December 12th, 1985




        The causes of poverty.


        Hunger and poverty.

        A clear parallel exists between having no food and having no 
        money.

        Vital elements of support are missing.

        The parallel may be extended.

        The only useful thing to do with food is to eat it, and then it 
        is gone.

        The only useful thing to do with money is to spend it, and it too 
        is gone.

        To feed a hungry person is a temporary relief; the permanent 
        solution is to teach him to farm.

        To give money to a poor person is a generous act, but only when 
        he can generate money can he become free from poverty.

        Let's consider the leaking bucket again.

        Once money has been spent it really makes no difference where it 
        goes, it is gone, with no particular reason to ever come back.

        This is a structural consequence of the virtually universal 
        tranferrability of money and has nothing per se to do with any 
        international banking conspiracy or stranglehold of the unions or 
        political corruption or anything of that nature.

        Many such influences may or may not exist and may or may not 
        aggravate the issue.

        The point is, however, largely immaterial.

        Even if no such negative elements exist, money would still flow 
        away, because that is what happens when you spend it.

        Money comes and money goes, and the way it comes has nothing to 
        do with the way it went.

        The real dominant factor is the invisible hand of the market, 
        which demands that money shall flow to the cheapest sources of 
        supply.










        Landsman Community Services Ltd.              ID-4-3    Page    1