Poor vs. rich countries

They say that Portugal is a poor country…

I’ve been a bit miffed at finding only small tubes of toothpaste. I was wondering if it was a supply chain issue. Not! Yesterday I found a regular sized tube of toothpaste which made me happy. What later amazed me is that the package says “Formato XXL” for a 100 ml tube. I don’t know the exact size of the regular tube in Vzla but I would guess between 80 and 100 ml.

The contradiction is that the small size is more expensive despite the lower price. A good way to keep poor people poor but since their problem is a shortage of cash they are condemned to stay poor.

Another good way to stay poor is to buy lottery tickets.

The Captain

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Another good way to stay poor is to buy lottery tickets.

as the thread lurches off topic: I was at a car show today, sponsored by MAFFI (a Model A Ford owner’s club). I was chatting with one of the guys, who said someone had confused the name with the Mafia.

That got me wondering. Michigan has had a state lottery for 50 years. Casino gambling became legal in the state some 20 years ago. Now on-line casino games and sports betting are legal. It’s officially legal to bribe elected officials. Recreational pot is legal in Michigan.

What does the mob do to earn a dishonest buck these days?

Steve

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The contradiction is that the small size is more expensive despite the lower price. A good way to keep poor people poor but since their problem is a shortage of cash they are condemned to stay poor.

I never pass up the chance to share the Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness, developed by Captain Sam Vimes in Terry Pratchets’s novel, Men at Arms.

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

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What does the mob do to earn a dishonest buck these days?

Steve, I would tell you but politics is banned around here…

Talking about lotteries, my grandfather, may he rest in peace, twice a week bought two tickets I suppose for amusement because he didn’t need the money, he was well taken care of by his son and daughter and he contributed. He would get up before the break of dawn, feed the chickens he kept in the backyard, walked around the part maybe half an hour or so, made breakfast at my dad’s hotel and took the rest of the day off.

My grandfather had to wait three or four days to see if he won or lost but technology has accelerated how fast gamblers can loose at the lottery, the Scratch Tickets!

Scratch and lose, buy another
Scratch and lose, buy another
Scratch and win, buy another
Scratch and lose, buy another
Scratch and lose, buy another
Scratch and lose, buy another

until you run out of pocket money!

The Captain
my grandfather got rid of the chickens after a buzzard flew into the chicken coop!

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I never pass up the chance to share the Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness, developed by Captain Sam Vimes in Terry Pratchets’s novel, Men at Arms.

A thanks for that! Years ago I read an article about consumer goods that stated that the poor are a very rich market, one reason I preferred investing in off-price retailers instead of in fancy ones.

The Captain
there are many more poor than rich, it’s good to serve them…

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What does the mob do to earn a dishonest buck these days?

California’s ‘Black Market’ in Cannabis Overshadows Legal Sales
https://thecrimereport.org/2022/09/14/californias-black-mark…
The marijuana black market in California, exemplified by illegal cannabis shops, is booming in plain sight, luring customers away from aboveboard retailers with cheaper — if untested and unregulated — product, with the shops also becoming breeding grounds for crime, reports the Los Angeles Times. Investigators for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department say there are 25 to 30 illegal dispensaries operating in just the East Los Angeles area and an estimated 150 to 160 illegal dispensaries in the department’s entire jurisdiction.

Many of those arrested are not prosecuted. Those who are typically don’t face cannabis offenses, but weapons charges after being caught with guns. Meanwhile, authorities say that illegal dispensaries are making as much as $25,000 a day in revenue, while also costing only a few thousand dollars to open.

DB2

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are making as much as $25,000 a day in revenue, while also costing only a few thousand dollars to open.


And not a penny of tax revenue :frowning:

Jeff

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