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Why 2012 Was the Best Year Ever

LowDown

LowDown

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Hey, how about some good news for a change?

Here it is:

Why 2012 was the best year ever » The Spectator

2012 has been a spectacular year in terms of net global prosperity, accompanied by less hunger, less disease, and less war than ever before.

...Take global poverty. In 1990, the UN announced Millennium Development Goals, the first of which was to halve the number of people in extreme poverty by 2015. It emerged this year that the target was met in 2008.
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Yes, this is part of a long term trend that is seeing a better life spread to more of the world's people in terms of access to clean water, abundance of food, availability of affordable goods such as clothing, availability of modern medicine, especially vaccines, improved sanitation, access to technology and communications and so on. In addition, recent developments in technology both save energy and make more cheap energy available world wide.

The West may be in the economic doldrums, but the rest of the world is charging ahead. Believe it or not we are living in a golden age.

Happy Holidays! :)
 
People tend to view and evaluate all events as viewed through the prism of their own circumstances.

It would be very difficult to convince Americans that the destruction that their country has endured in past years is easily dismissed as "The west May be in the economic doldrums."

The far reaching consequences of the totality of the loss of the United States will be felt as nothing before in history.
 
I lived through it after my doctor said I would not! Plenty good enough.
 
LowDown said:
Hey, how about some good news for a change?

Here it is:



Yes, this is part of a long term trend that is seeing a better life spread to more of the world's people in terms of access to clean water, abundance of food, availability of affordable goods such as clothing, availability of modern medicine, especially vaccines, improved sanitation, access to technology and communications and so on. In addition, recent developments in technology both save energy and make more cheap energy available world wide.

The West may be in the economic doldrums, but the rest of the world is charging ahead. Believe it or not we are living in a golden age.

Happy Holidays! :)
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How far can the rest of the world go without the West?
 
LowDown said:
Hey, how about some good news for a change?

Here it is:



Yes, this is part of a long term trend that is seeing a better life spread to more of the world's people in terms of access to clean water, abundance of food, availability of affordable goods such as clothing, availability of modern medicine, especially vaccines, improved sanitation, access to technology and communications and so on. In addition, recent developments in technology both save energy and make more cheap energy available world wide.

The West may be in the economic doldrums, but the rest of the world is charging ahead. Believe it or not we are living in a golden age.

Happy Holidays! :)
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Yeah, and if a republican were president the article would read: "why 2012 was the worst year ever."

How about; 2012 sucked?

There are no jobs, people are losing their homes and our leadership sucks.

The media just makes crap up to portray Obama (and democrats in general) as Jesus.

It ticks me off that people believe this holly-jolly nonsense when it takes 2 seconds to realize this world is ruled by a bunch of authoritarian lunatics.
 
Dooble said:
How far?
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China up until around the 1800s was the largest economy in the world and manufactured more then any other country. It has at times in its history developed for more advanced technologies then other areas of the world

India untill around the same time was about the second largest economy

No reason to think that without the west that either country could not and would not be sucessfull and produce futher technological advancements
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
China up until around the 1800s was the largest economy in the world and manufactured more then any other country. It has at times in its history developed for more advanced technologies then other areas of the world

India untill around the same time was about the second largest economy

No reason to think that without the west that either country could not and would not be sucessfull and produce futher technological advancements
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I agree with that.
 
LowDown said:
Hey, how about some good news for a change?

Here it is:



Yes, this is part of a long term trend that is seeing a better life spread to more of the world's people in terms of access to clean water, abundance of food, availability of affordable goods such as clothing, availability of modern medicine, especially vaccines, improved sanitation, access to technology and communications and so on. In addition, recent developments in technology both save energy and make more cheap energy available world wide.

The West may be in the economic doldrums, but the rest of the world is charging ahead. Believe it or not we are living in a golden age.

Happy Holidays! :)
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I try to say this pretty regularly, while most other people say, "he world is going to hell in a hand basket."
The world has been getting better, practically every year, for several dozen, if not hundreds of years.

This isn't news to me, but more of conformation of reality.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
China up until around the 1800s was the largest economy in the world and manufactured more then any other country. It has at times in its history developed for more advanced technologies then other areas of the world

India untill around the same time was about the second largest economy

No reason to think that without the west that either country could not and would not be sucessfull and produce futher technological advancements
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This statements convey a narrative that has more of its roots in modern myth than reality. It would be a mistake to assume that in the recent past the Mughal Empire, the Hindu Princedoms, or China were full developed economies with matching political clout. India for example was in raw terms (it has been retroactively calculated) a GDP giant (sort-of) because of its massive accumulation of precious metals and export of cash crops and food stuffs. However there was virtually no developed manufacturing, gold and other metals were hoarded instead of being put to effective use due to a fundamental lack of international trading regimens, weak and somewhat primitive government, and the lack of technology to facilitate exploration and trade. The Mughal Empire was arguably nearing the peak of its triumphs when the Western powers arrived, and it fell along with the Rajit Princes because of vastly superior Western economic, technological, and military prowess--and dysfunctional state structure. China is really a similar story, sans the annexations and physical domination. Nor would it be fair today to say that the rest of the world can 'do without' the West, it really cant. Another big turn down or worse a recession in the West would be catastrophic for development in Asia, especially for countries like China and India.

That being said I'm hopeful, but I watch with bated breath. I think China has deeper and more frightening economic structural problems than India but is obviously much further along the road to mass development and HDI improvements, while India has fantastically deep problems with governance that have inhibited development but I don't see anything as scary or critical like China's property and construction bubble and its need for a flat high annual growth rate to ward of discontent.
 
Dooble said:
How far can the rest of the world go without the West?
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Why should they have to go without the West? The West might be in a slow economic cycle, but it's still pretty strong.
 
Maenad said:
I lived through it after my doctor said I would not! Plenty good enough.
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that kind of news makes me happy. glad to have you around, and best wishes for 2013.
 
Glad to hear it.

2012 for me personally has sucked hind teat... I'm looking forward to 2013.
 
Diogenes said:
What makes you think so?
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The trends of India and China, I guess I should say instead that I believe Asia will be the center of the global economy because 50 years is a long time.
 
LowDown said:
Why should they have to go without the West? The West might be in a slow economic cycle, but it's still pretty strong.
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The op was talking about how the rest of the world was doing so well, despite our sluggish economy. Too many on here give the impression that a declining America is giving them a sexual tickle.
 
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