Do you think that "first-world" nations use a disproportionate amount of resouces?

Question

People blame overcrowding in "third-world" countries for why resources are so thin. But isn't the real reason is because people in "first world" countries consume more food, use more gasoline, use more clothes than a person from the "third world"? Compare a teenager in America who drives an SUV, eats at buffets, wears the latest clothes and uses the latest electronics...with a kid in Africa. That one American kid uses more resources than 10 African kids!

Answer 1

First world countries use a disproportionate amount of resources AND produce a disproportionate amount of goods,services, & innovation You cannot produce and not use.
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And overpopulation and overcrowding is poppycock.
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Answer 2

True.....every American person uses more of our natural resources produced by this planet than any African kid, from absolutely everything I have ever read for the whole of my life, 55 years. We are now 6.5 billion persons on this planet, and China and India are together more than 3.5 billion. If all of them had a life style of America, we would have a much more polluted planet, and China is growing, and becoming industrialized at an extremely rapid rate.... scary for us all, scary for them, too. China's rate of pollution is huge--- they even take our pollution in the form of waste products the US doesn't want on its soil.... again, scary. Old carcasses of ships are sent to India to be torn up, and recycled --- OSHA wouldn't allow that kind of pollution in this country, so it is shipped there, and those poor people put up with asbestos contamination just to have a job..... truly a mess. The average age in India is still only 33 years, and more than half of their population is under 16.

The age population is the same for Africa, and when the enter into the industrial age, they too will be taking waste products.... At this point, however in their history, few are able to make such bids, since most are run by dictators -- look at Zimbabwe --- an economy once rather good, and hugely invested in Wildlife Tourism. Now, it is no longer safe to travel there.....

Answer 3

First of all I think you're a little confused about the "average" teenager in the United States. Sounds to me like you've been watching a bit too much television or movies. There are people everywhere that have sufficient income that they can appear wealthy to other people.

Second, it appears you're saying that we are using resources that other countries could use if we weren't using them. We grow most of the food we consume. The items we import can be imported by any country with the means to pay for them. Many of the "third-world" countries are poor not because of laziness of the population but because of ignorance of modern production techniques and political corruption.

I don't see much need to apologize to anyone because our country is doing well and theirs isn't.

Answer 4

No, because we produce the most in the world too.