Rick Steves: Travel Opens Eyes to Rich-Poor Gap

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/28/Rick_Steves_Travel_As_a_Political_Act

Rick Steves says traveling can shine a light on the gap between rich and poor in other countries. While he makes no apologies for American affluence, Steves sees aid to impoverished people as an opportunity to improve America's reputation abroad.

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Spending four months a year overseas, Rick Steves believes that thoughtful travel can expand our world view and shape how we address the political challenges that confront our country.

This popular speaker returns to The Commonwealth Club to provide a unique perspective on how the other 96 percent of humanity views our country and why we should "challenge truths we were raised to think were self-evident" in order to become citizens of the planet.

Rick Steves grew up in Edmonds, Washington and studied at the University of Washington where he received degrees in Business Administration and European History. Since 1973, he has spent 120 days a year in Europe.

Today he employs 80 people at his Europe Through the Back Door headquarters in Edmonds where he produces 30 guidebooks on European travel, the most popular travel series in America on public television, a weekly hour-long national public radio show, and a weekly column syndicated by the Chicago Tribune.

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[ndyt]

I would rather spend money on the poor then on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[truthadvocate]

You don't need to own a house. I bought a house. Now it's worth less. I would have been better off renting.

You don't need to graduate from university. I have a masters degree from a prestigious school. I make much less than my friend who never went to university.

More than anything, to succeed, you need knowledge. You can get it from books, the Internet, friends, family, & basically anyone you come in contact with. If you can't afford university, that doesn't mean you can't succeed.

[WideWorldOfWisdom]

And exactly how many billions have we thrown into the black hole of African dictatorial coffers? It's amazing how someone so well traveled could be so naive.

foreign aid: "an excellent method for transferring money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries."

[luc59457]

@ndyt That like saying you would rather spend money on the poor, instead of for poor causes to make a few rich... You are not giving them what they want, good job

[wolftreetree]

I want the US to take care of our own people first, then we can look abroad, we have tent cities, super expensive healthcare, and jobs that are paying less and less if you can find them.

[Entropy56]

"For 30 years, the fertility rate of Europe has been below the 2.1 children per woman necessary to replace a population. In Russia and Ukraine, a million people disappear yearly. In Western Europe, the passing of the native-born goes on quietly, as Third World peoples come to fill the empty spaces left by the aborted and unconceived."

[Entropy56]

"In every Western nation, government is growing beyond the capacity of taxpayers to bear. Deficits and debt are surging. Not enough children are being born to replace parents. The immigrant poor who consume more than they contribute are coming to take the empty places. Seniors and elderly are growing as a share of the population. Companies are saying goodbye to the West and moving offshore to low-wage lands."

Enjoy your Sociaism while you can.

[Entropy56]

The 1960s offered a challenge to the poverty-causes-crime thesis. Homicides rose 43%, despite an expanding economy and a surge in government jobs for inner-city residents. The Great Depression also contradicted the idea that need breeds predation, since crime rates dropped during that prolonged crisis.

[Entropy56]

The recession of 2008-09 has undercut one of the most destructive social theories that came out of the 1960s: the idea that the root cause of crime lies in income inequality and social injustice. As the economy started shedding jobs in 2008, criminologists and pundits predicted that crime would shoot up, since poverty, as the "root causes" theory holds, begets criminals. Instead, the opposite happened. Over 7 million lost jobs later, crime has plummeted to its lowest level since the early 1960s.

[ephesus]

haha, your simplistic view of economics is kind of funny. You clearly don't have any rich friends that inherited millions and live off the of interest, indulging every pleasure they can think of.

As far as the comment of about poor people's debt, you're just describing what it means to be "poor". You're not answering *why* they have debts. The pleasure comment is just flat out wrong.

[goldsilverandiamonds]

@Sexymetroman Yes, I agree get rid of the weak DNA! The current congress and

Obama as president clearly show you have made a great point! TIME TO VOTE OUT THE WEAK DNA!!!!!! EUROPE SHOULD DO THIS TOO!!! JUST SAY NO TO WEAK DNA!!!!