On 20 May 02, Doug & Jay wrote: > Pardon me, but I thought that copulation of some sort with an > infected person caused the spread of AIDS. Now, it appears that > poverty causes AIDS. Oh, wait a minute, maybe the author is saying > that only poor people copulate. Or, maybe poor people have more > time to copulate.
A couple of items to broaden your canvas... 1. Ichiro Kawachi's pioneering work shows that life expectancy and illness are closely related to the structure of a society and that variations in health achievement across populations are primarily related to socio-structural factors, including income equality, lack of educational opportunities, breakdown of social cohesion, and racism. The following abstract is to a British Medical Journal article by Kawachi, I. and B.P. Kennedy, 1997, "Socioeconomic determinants of health: Health and social cohesion: why care about income inequality?" "Throughout the world, wealth and income are becoming more concentrated. Growing evidence suggests that the distribution of income–in addition to the absolute standard of living enjoyed by the poor–is a key determinant of population health. A large gap between rich people and poor people leads to higher mortality through the breakdown of social cohesion. The recent surge in income inequality in many countries has been accompanied by a marked increase in the residential concentration of poverty and affluence. Residential segregation diminishes the opportunities for social cohesion. Income inequality has spillover effects on society at large, including increased rates of crime and violence, impeded productivity and economic growth, and the impaired functioning of representative democracy. The extent of inequality in society is often a consequence of explicit policies and public choice. Reducing income inequality offers the prospect of greater social cohesiveness and better population health." The full paper is at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7086/1037 Further "Social Capital" abstracts: http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/inequal/abstracts/health/read.htm 2. Boudewijn Wegerif produces a regular newsletter "What Matters". In the latest (#84) which arrived today he writes: I am pleased to be in a circle of friends who know that we can have a world without poverty, given a money system that is genuinely for people - everybody - and who have made it their business to do something about it. One such friend, through the Internet, is Vincent R. LoCascio. It has been my privilege to read Vince's book, Special Privilege: How the Monetary Elite Benefit at Your Expense. Below is an excerpt from chapter six, Dollars and Sense "Three separate and distinct groups oppose the still prevailing money creation process. They differ in that they each identify a different element of the process as the root cause of the problem. Specifically, the point of view that Special Privilege has put forth is that fractional reserve banking is the root of the problem and the elimination of it is the solution. This would remove the money creation privilege from banks and give it to no one else. While maintaining this solution as the best solution, Special Privilege, nonetheless, sees merit to each of the other two positions. As different as these other two schools are from each other, either is preferable to the current system." More at... http://www.whatmatters.nu/wmemails/wmemails17.html#WM-84 Then again you maybe playing devil's advocate? 8-] Cheerio... Rex
