Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:56:40 -0400 From: Daniel Staal <DStaal@usa.net> To: Gary Gatten <Ggatten@waddell.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: RE: First World Message-ID: <E3627A3A11FC10B2FA06A9E8@mac-pro.magehandbook.com> In-Reply-To: <21605_1314040524_4E52AACC_21605_206_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499C803F8EE@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com> References: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1108211133500.1308@abbf.6qbyyneqvnyhc.pbz> <20110822034203.3dd9e29e@cox.net> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1108220516520.17068@abbf.6qbyyneqvnyhc.pbz> <CAAdA2WMH%2BmAy_LH1_wc3PON_jiDG%2BrL66WupaLE7knGVWUgUiA@mail.gmail.com> <be0873cdcb195164909268bfe8734c9a.squirrel@www.magehandbook.com> <21605_1314040524_4E52AACC_21605_206_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499C803F8EE@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com>
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--As of August 22, 2011 2:15:24 PM -0500, Gary Gatten is alleged to have said: > Interesting analogy. Osama - er, I mean Obama could really use people > like you to explain things better to him, 'cause obviously he has NO idea > what his various and numerous Czars and advisors are saying. Or maybe > they're all barely functional and don't know any better.... --As for the rest, it is mine. What analogy? I was answering a question posed as an aside, in a typically geeky 'ha ha, only serious' way. The distinction between what is considered a 'First World Country' and a 'Third World County' is hard to define, but easy to feel if you've traveled through a bunch of both. It's some combination of average wealth, stability of the economy, the wealth distribution, and possibly a few other factors. Sodas are actually a decent proxy for them: They are a cheap, low-end, consumable, _luxury_ item. An economy that can support a large number of different manufacturers with a large variety is going to have a certain average wealth, fairly evenly distributed, and have been stable in that situation for a while. So it's an indicator. A bit of an odd one, but it's easy to check, and does a surprisingly good job. ;) It's no major insight, and wouldn't really help make any policy decisions, but it's something I'll check given the chance in a new country: What the selection is, and what the price is. It will tell you a surprising amount about the country. Daniel T. Staal --------------------------------------------------------------- This email copyright the author. Unless otherwise noted, you are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use the contents for non-commercial purposes. This copyright will expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years, whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of local copyright law. ---------------------------------------------------------------
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