From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Aug 22 23:56:42 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6C64F106566B for ; Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:56:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from DStaal@usa.net) Received: from mail.magehandbook.com (173-8-4-45-WashingtonDC.hfc.comcastbusiness.net [173.8.4.45]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3ADA58FC16 for ; Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:56:41 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [192.168.1.50] (Mac-Pro.magehandbook.com [192.168.1.50]) by mail.magehandbook.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id D60801B9; Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:56:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:56:40 -0400 From: Daniel Staal To: Gary Gatten , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <21605_1314040524_4E52AACC_21605_206_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499C803F8EE@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com> References: <20110822034203.3dd9e29e@cox.net> <21605_1314040524_4E52AACC_21605_206_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499C803F8EE@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com> X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Mac OS X) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Cc: Subject: RE: First World X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:56:42 -0000 --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. ---------------------------------------------------------------