He is right about muslims being backward due to cultural reasons. If Israel is responsible for the backwardness of palestine then who is responsible for their backwardness in muslim counries . Even KSA is behind The Israeli gdp per capita. And KSA doesn't have a draft or a regular military battles?
What cultural reasons? Now that is an open question. I suppose their insistance on everyhing being islamic is an start.
I don't know the specific details of all the Muslim countries, but the reason any country is poor is that it lacks capital. So the question that must be asked, "Why do these countries lack capital?" It seems like some of the countries, like the UAE, might not be as poor as we think. But then again, it could just be that the PTB in the UAE just spend their wealth trying to make the UAE look rich and attract tourists. I don't know much about it.
But countries like Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc., those countries are not wealthy overall. So what is preventing the accumulation of capital in those countries? That is how the question ought to be framed in debates, not that I want Romney to do well. He could seriously clean Obama's clock if he tried. But again, it's not like I want Romney to do well.
Capital and growth are not the same thing. Trust fund babies are rich but not productive. Saudi Arabia has plenty of capital. Its population is a meager 20 million. And it makes around 100 billion $ a year from oil.
'Capital' is only related to wealth in as much as it can be used to enhance productivity. Otherwise it just sits there and rots; it may as well not even be called capital. So a trust fund baby may not be that 'productive', but in as much as he hires the right person to manage his wealth so it grows, he is productive. Or, he may simply liquidate it slowly over time to fund a life of consumption, in which case he's at least exchanging wealth with other people who may or may not use it productively. I think the key point is to generate wealth at base people need to be free to exchange what they value less for what they value more, plain and simple, and any poverty exists because of something messing with that process. That can be regulations that hinder the creation of capital equipment, or really anything else that can hinder that process of people trading what they have for what they want. And Romney, like every other politician, would only agree with that as far as it helps those who fund him, and he would oppose it when the process lead to unfavorable results for those who fund him.
The Middle East has seen a whole lot of political instability over the past century, and free markets have never been very popular there. There's also problems with the fact that oil in the area detracts from other industries, the areas were dominated colonially for a good century or so, and the few things that the state can do to actually increase productivity, like education and infrastructure have been infinitely neglected.
The economy in Israel is not that wealthy. If it is then the folks there would return all the US Government loans from China, several billion per year, that either go directly to Israel or get to Israel through military assistance. And they would not welcome any interference in their affairs from the USA. But instead they seem to like this "aid" and all of the strings attached to it.
Also the country treats it Arab folks like crap. That is especially true for the Palestinian population. And on top of that the government there has stolen most of the property owned by the Palestinians. Of course these issues are hardly unique to Israel, just ask any Native Americans who are not casino executives.
As for Romney, I loathe just about everything he stands for SINCE becoming a politician, of course I feel this way about all politicians, except Ron Paul of course. I think Romney and the USA would be better off with him running Bain Capital and promoting the process of creative destruction that the economy desperately needs instead of jockeying for the job that can most disrupt the process.
Also, Romney is a lover of the Fed and its counterfeiting operations that destroy the pricing system and destroy the ability of entrepreneurs to perform economic calculation.
Of course poor countries are poor due to the mentality of the general population, everywhere, everytime. Now, whether islam is itself a set of ideas that retard capitalism or it just happens to survive in societies which hold other sets of belief incompatible with capitalism, this is an other story.
All in all, I think that the militant version of islam which calls for people to be murdered when they draw the equivalent of Jesus-caricatures, forbids interest and abhors conversions to other faiths is itself a huge hurdle in the road to freedom. It doesn’t have to be like this, but for the time being it is.
you12: Capital and growth are not the same thing. Trust fund babies are rich but not productive. Saudi Arabia has plenty of capital. Its population is a meager 20 million. And it makes around 100 billion $ a year from oil.
Does it though? Maybe the Saudi Royal family has plenty of capital, but all their capital is in oil production? Or is that incorrect? Look at America. We have factories, and while the rich are the ones who own the factories, it's not like the rest of the population doesn't have capital. Look in the kitchens in restaurants. Sure, some of the poorer kitchens don't have very much in the way of capital, but aren't those the equivalent to the restaurants in Saudi Arabia? Look at the nice kitchens here. Walk-in refrigerators, walk-in freezers, plenty of stoves and ovens, automatic dishwashers that are huge compared to home dishwashers, many sinks, etc.
So, the population in Saudi Arabia, how much capital do they really have? It certainly seems like they do not have the same quality or abundance of capital that we have here in America.
Good point and which Western Countries are most responsible for creating the environment in the Middle East, Southern Asia and Northern Africa that gives Radica Islamists the ability to run roughshod over their neighbors and instigate all kinds of murderious mayhem in their homes? You guessed it, the USA and Israel are the biggest propagators of this. The USA has propped up the revolution against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the overthrows of the really bad but not horrible governments in Iraq, Libya and Egypt. And is now working on Syria and Iran. And in all of these conflicts who manages to win? Radical Islamists of course.