it seems really fucking stupid to me, especially from people that proudly call themselves neoliberals

  • PeterTheAverage [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    I don't really get it either. Neoliberalism has only really been a thing since the 70s, and while the Steven Pinker/Bill Gates types will claim worldwide poverty has significantly decreased since then, that's only because the line they use is hilariously low. If you make $2 a day you're considered "lifted out of poverty", even though the USDA states that you need ~$7/day just to fulfill basic nutritional needs. Under this metric global poverty has barely declined over that time period, and the only place it's seen a real decline is China. Jason Hickel has a good article/letter on it here:

    https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2019/2/3/pinker-and-global-poverty