somebody once said.

thought experiment: the poor will not be there, if the rich can only have their way.

if true, then all the bill gates in the world will be successful someday in eradicating poorness.

but something tells me that some of the rich will have a harder time to pass through the eye of a needle than a camel.

conclusion: the rich are split and battling among themselves in helping and trodding down on the poor; e.g. bush on the iraqis. in this world, you need money to finance both good and evil, if you want results. the poor can just watch on the sidelines, and without money, can just smile or frown, or maybe just take it out on another poor.

in relation to: the philippines is just one showcase of the rich doing their thing; the only problem is that the background poor who are affected are more numerous and hence more visible. try to find the invisible and you will find the cause.

vietnam maybe has an advantage, being less democratic, in that the junta running the show there is a smaller clique compared to the crowd pillaging the philippine democracy.

just a thought though...