back

by moultano·16y ago·view on hn ↗
Poorer people on average probably take less care of their environment than richer people, but that's not what I'm talking about. Them _becoming poorer_ isn't harming their environment. It's the derivative that's important.

Someone is becoming very wealthy pulling oil out of the Niger delta, but the people living there are becoming much poorer as a result. http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5524695-146/niger...

1 comments
There are numerous examples in developing countries/dictatorships/autocracies where wealth is physically taken away from the poor - and where the poor have no recourse because of poor legal systems/governance. However, this article is about a man in Austria who had some type of business not an autocrat stealing oil and brutalizing countrymen (for which hopefully such a man/woman ultimately does feel guilt).

Wealthy countries become wealthy not by harvesting natural resources but by harnessing entrepreneurs and generating ideas. It's why capital overwhelmingly gets invested in developed countries and not developing ones - ie the returns are simply better.