Third world country? Third world country. They will let anyone drive in those parts.

It must suck to live in the third world.

Yeah, but that isn't the purpose of these. They tried that with OLPC and it was a good design but there were much more helpful ways to spend money to help third world children and it didn't really work out for a variety of reasons. These are, at best like the Raspberry Pi, intended for poor and middle-class western kids, to give them a 'hackable' platform that encouraged learning about how computers work (like the Commodore 64s and BBC Micros of old). Ideally, they would be distributed to public school students. Cheap is important, but not if it means you forgo the 'hackable'-ness.

But also my advice was really more intended for those here, who would be buying something like this to mess around with for DIY stuff.

Education for someone in a third world country isn't necessarily re-writing the assembly code. It is just enjoying using the computer. Learning to type. Learning how a mouse works. Making something beautiful. Writing a paper for school. From there, curiosity and fun will do the rest.

The really tricky part about all this is that, though the wages and conditions are frequently horrible, the workers there do at least have jobs and that makes them much better off then they would likely be otherwise. You don't frequently see reporters asking the workers "Are you glad you have this job?" With the exception of the rare cases of actual forced labor, they are free to quit. They can't, though, because the alternative is worse.

It's not really individual western consumers fault that this is the situation, nor even the global corporations commissioning the work, nor the local factory owners. We are all under the pressure of capitalism. If the factory owner decides to install fire extinguishers or whatever or increase his workers' wages, the contract will go to another factory owner who didn't. If the corporations insist on only doing business with factory owners like the former, one of their competitors will opt for the latter and put them out of business. If we as consumers decide to only purchase from companies who treat their employees well, we will have to buy less and there will be fewer manufacturing jobs in the third world, and the people will be out of work.

There is no solution. Capitalism and overpopulation are at the root of all this, but the alternatives to capitalism have all proven to be even worse so far and overpopulation may well be insoluble.

Aw. Now I'm all depressed. Still. Bad as things look, in most ways they're better on the whole then they were in previous centuries. True, the population continues to grow exponentially, but literacy and education are on the rise worldwide too, and hopefully they will hold the key.

I think the problem is ultimately a political one.

There are absolutely social issues in Islam (similar to every religion, but marginally more repressive), but the terrorist angle is there because of geography. Most of the adherents to Islam live in the third world and yeah, they absolutely have genuine, legitimate grievances with the west. Not because we're secular godless infidels, but because of the way we've exploited people.

And these people are exploited by their religious leaders.

Look at Northern Ireland. You had Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other, but because both were Christians, it was framed as a political struggle. If the republicans had been druids or something, then it would be recast as a religious issue.

If most Christians were living in the third world, we'd be looking at the exact same problem. The only reason Christianity is any less problematic than Islam is because it has had to live in an affluent education demographic who increasingly won't put up with it's original treatment of women, homosexuals, etc.

In poorer areas, (southern US, South America, parts of Africa) Christianity is indistinguishable from the Taliban.

The only thing THAT is abhorrent is your inappropriate use OF all caps.

I compare ENTERTAINERS to terrorists all THE time. I'm PRETTY sure that MILEY Cyrus ranks somewhere between Bin Laden and HITLER on any sane scale you CARE to CHOOSE.

Dude, it's fucking comedy. Jesus, it's a bit about ONE FUCKING DIRECTION. It is the ANTITHESIS OF SERIOUS COMMENT.

I think Maher has lost the plot somewhat on Islam but he has the right to criticise it as an ideology. And no, that isn't racist. You can say that Islam has problems (which it clearly does) and that those who strictly adhere to it are an issue in a western democracy. The problem is that Maher doesn't understand that it's no worse than Christianity or Judaism would be if most of their adherents were living in the third world.

All of which has nothing to do with you posting a not very interesting video and then throwing your toys out of the pram when it was downvoted.

Stop playing the martyr. You're not "standing up against hatred", you're whinging like a child who didn't get their way, and if you weren't so blindly committed to this, you'd realise your mistake and apologise like an adult.

If black americans really do have any kind of tendency towards being poorly educated or poorly civilised, is it because they have only very recently been allowed to have any education or any part in civilisation. And i'm not necessarily willing to accept that premise, because there similarly plenty of white americans who are also extremely poorly educated and poorly civilised. I know that because i caught honey boo-boo on TV once. It doesn't help that your legal system is inherently racist as evidenced by the shocking prison statistics for black americans; whitey made sure that 'black people' crime is highly punishable and 'white people' crime isn't. Just listen to what this man has to tell you.

Your advice to someone who lives in bad area is "Buy a house in a nice area?" OMFG I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS!!! Why don't starving people in third world countries just move house? Why don't people who live in warzones move? Why don't the Palestinians just move? Why don't isolated, terrified old ladies move out of dangerous apartment blocks and council estates? Why don't abused women just leave their husbands? Why don't abused children just run away and tell a policeman? Why don't .... you just shut the fuck up? Honestly, better to keep silent and have people think you're stupid and racist than to share your blindingly idiotic comments and remove all doubt.

They are born there, they can't afford to move, they are supporting family who live there (and can't afford to move), they can't get a job anywhere else, they can't go to school anywhere else, there's no one particularly educated amongst them to help them out? Any of the above and millions more reasons (that i don't know because i never experienced it, nor did you)?

Black people were treated like sub-humans, murdered in the street without comment and for no particular reason, beaten, tortured, forced to work, forced to fight, bred for strength and most of all.... kept in the fucking dark about everything, because stupid slaves are easier to control.

Generation after generation of being bred for work traits; intelligence systematically discouraged. So anyone who's around now was raised by people who were raised by people with no education, property or hope through no fault of their own. Add to that inherent racism as explained CLEARLY to you by this video. So the black people today are a product of their environment. And in a way, that excuses you for being a disgusting, poorly-educated, ignorant racist because the apple never falls far from the tree... and you're not worth any more of my time.

Another rant from the harbinger of doom. I believe his followers gain succour from his dystopian views because it gives them an excuse for the shortcomings in their own lives. OK, that's a bit strong, but the fact is, no matter what figures you want to analyze, never in history have humans been so fortunate both in health and general well being. Generally, each generation lives longer, is better cared for and enjoys a better quality of life than the last. Is it perfect? No. Will it ever be? Probably not. Do we care enough about our third world cousins? Again, probably not.
I never quite "get" what Chomsky's real problem is. Is it Multinationals? Media? Government? Corporations? It seems to be all of these, and a whole lot more. North Korea would be a good place for him to rail against evidential control, injustice and a true dystopian existence. Here we are allowed to take advantage of education, free thought and certain rights. In short, to make the best of things. I suggest he, and his followers, do the same. Moaning on, and on, and on about this awful, oppressive existence we suffer in the west, really gains no sympathy from people who live in places where they would love the chances Chomsky seems to take for granted.

@Trancecoach
dude,its a TV show..relax.

i agree that a political argument dressed as scientific debate is a bait and switch that most people miss and buy into the bullshit.take the politics and monied interest out?

well,not much arguing going on.

now the discussions in regards to solutions are in the political realm and that my friend,scares the bejesus out of me.its like asking a crack whore to watch your kids.

how sad and shameful that the most progressive and creative solutions are coming from third world nations.these people crap outside for fucks sake!

but here in the states? too busy texting and facebooking and searching for that next new shiny,because our self worth is wrapped in what we own,what we do for a job,what we drive.we demand respect from everyone yet give none,convinced of our own superiority based on the most thinnest of veneers and baseless of subjective criteria.

we are the assholes of the world.

lets be real for a second.
this video is based on a show.entertainment.
and it plays it way over the top,but its entertaining.
its just a tv show.

i have seen some climate models that predict as early as 2050 shit is going to hit the fan,while others play it around 2100 (that was the IPCC one).all predicting some really nasty global stuff.

we aint gonna make it to 2100.
hell,i would be surprised if we made it to 2050.
because there is something far worse that will affect our societies than climate and thats peak oil.

how come nobody is talking about that?
far worse implications in regards to:food,clothes,jobs,economies did i mention FOOD?
oh,and war..lots and LOTS of war.killings,maimings and murders..oh my.
no arguing the science on that one,thats been in since the late 70's.

where is the debate on a subject that has real and immediate ramifications?

such a failed species.......

Well, that's bad and is only getting worse, but they are FAR from alone.
For instance, while the reservoir they showed looked to be about 40-50ft below full, I recently drove over Lake Shasta in N California, and it looks to be 200-250ft low! This is also due to 'climate change', which is turning what has historically been a wet rain forest into a desert.
We are already having water wars in our state. They WILL become violent eventually. Our dwindling sources of water in the North are being diverted to the far south...and somehow they pay less for our water than WE do! WTF?!?
And we are quickly draining aquifers nation wide, making it harder and harder to drill a well IF you are allowed to.
And insanely, where fresh water is not becoming scarce, we seem to be intentionally contaminating it so it's unusable, both above and below ground.
Just don't fool yourselves into thinking this is only a third world problem...it is not. First worlders use MORE water than those in the third world.

I saw a post recently that really had me thinking. We have special laws for the showing of naked children and child porn. Message boards all over the world famous for allowing almost anything, allow anything except pictures of naked children.

And yet we don't bat an eye at pictures of murdered children. Why is that? Children get beaten and killed both first world and third world countries, and we have no problem plastering it all over the media sites. Some people may be offended, but most admins will leave it if it is a site that promotes juvenile posting. After all there are no laws against posting pictures of dead children.

So remember, dead children are OK. But god forbid they are naked!

That was my first thought as well. Here's what strikes me as being truly sad:
It wasn't too long ago when we were somewhat accustomed to foreign authority abusing power. We've all seen videos dating back decades of riots in communist or third-world countries. Tienanmen Square is a good example of how unstable the rest of the world could be, making us feel that much more secure in the US.
Now, thanks to the last decade of reality waking us up, the first thing we think when we see such obvious, abusive and exploitative actions by foreign police or government is: "Wow. It's just as fucked up as America over there."

Why doesn't Chomsky find a nice socialist system he can believe in, and fucking MOVE there!?

No, he has to live here, where he is free to spew his BS because he won't be happy until the US is a third-world shithole where everyone is miserable.

This talking-head linguist wants high energy prices, that will save the future. Give me a break. If he paid $4 a gallon for gas, he'd be blasting the oil industry. Now gas is a smidge cheaper, he's blasting production. He can't make up his mind. Maybe he can magic his ass from place to place.

1) The problem is that the U.S. is so large that even a single state is often larger than entire European countries. As such, there's a large amount of income and crime disparity between states. Michigan, for example, has a high crime rate because it contains Detroit, which would qualify as a third-world country by most standards. Other states have significantly lower crime rates. Just as in Russia, some regions are far more prosperous (and safe) than others.

For example, Minnesota has a comparable population to Norway. As of 2012, it had a murder rate of 1.8, which is admittedly higher than that of Norway. However, Louisiana had a murder rate of 10.8 and actually has a smaller population than either of the aforementioned regions. The murder rates per state ranged from 1.1 to 10.8. That's a huge range in this context. Both states are part of the U.S. If the U.S. only consisted of one state, the murder rates would be radically different based on which state it was. That's the inherent problem with comparing small countries to the U.S. The sample size of the European countries is so small that you can't derive any meaningful data for comparison.

2/3) A large amount of violence is the result of drugs. Either people committing crimes to obtain drugs, people committing crimes because they are on drugs or cartels committing crimes to distribute drugs and maintain their stranglehold on the market. Would legalizing narcotics alleviate these issues? Maybe. They might also cause a rise in other issues, like traffic accidents. Alcohol already causes an absurd amount of lethal and non-lethal accidents on the road and no doubt legally-obtainable PCP, cocaine, heroin, meth, LSD, etc, would only exacerbate that.