In his otherwise inspiring autobiography, Malcolm X did get one thing wrong. Malcolm told Alex Haley that as a student, he was good at math, but wasn't motivated to pursue it, despite a teacher's encouragement to do so, because in math "there's no argument."
Perhaps young Malcolm thought this because he'd never read the New York Times armed with a calculator and a web browser. There's argument a-plenty.
Exhibit A: in an article documenting how messed up Iran is economically due to the misguided policies of its government, the New York Times reported today that in Iran
"Rents are soaring, inflation hovers around 17 percent, and 10 million Iranians live below the poverty line."
Of course, the statement that "10 million Iranians live below the poverty line" is meaningless until you know how many Iranians there are. The CIA - which, as we all know, knows everything worth knowing - says there are 65 million. If the CIA and the NYT are right, then the poverty rate in Iran is about 15%.
By comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau says that the poverty rate in the U.S. is only 13.3%.
So, if these numbers are correct, Iran is really in big trouble. Because their policies are so misguided, their poverty rate is two percentage points higher than the rate in the U.S. If I'm an Iranian opposition leader, I've got my 30-second soundbite all ready to go:
"Mahmoud Ahmedinijad: Cares Even Less About Poor Iranians Than George W. Bush Cares About Poor Americans."
Your representatives in Congress just got back to Washington. President Bush used the recess to escalate his threats to attack Iran. Why not join United for Peace and Justice in welcoming Congress back by dropping your Representative a line Thursday?
15% interest???????? Oh how we now miss; the good old days.
Now check casing places charge 500%.
OH,,,, to pine for the good old days.
School clothes now run about 20% to 32% on a credit card.
Oh my stars, and they would have jailed Dear Malcolm for 15%???
Yes,,,,,,, Do the MATH!
Now, as far as Iran falling into poverty, with all the embargos and threats of nuclear holocaust, maybe things are getting a bit rough.
ON THING!
Do they line up their people in stadiums and convention centers wait for days and let them die of thirst?
Wait, what about targeting blacks with predatory lending practices and steal their equity with promises and contracts complicated that a Harvard lawyer can’t even understand them? I think lending money at 500% interest, we can quickly catch up to Iran in the poverty race.
We are America,
If we can win in Olympic hockey against the Canadians, I bet we can kick the Iranians touché when it comes to a race to the bottom.
Look, we have 18 months left to do it in!
We can do this! We have the technology! We can turn this around.
Go USA GO!
20% poverty by years end! 30 million people dispossessed and homeless by 2009.
I tell you; it is doable.
Go USA GO!
All the best
Knute
Unfortunately.
I signed it and will be calling tom.