Forum Overview :: Balance of Power :: What has brought the biggest increase in people's standard of living?

[quote name="Commander Tansin A. Darcos"]I used to have a different opinion when asked what one change, beyond any other, had the biggest increase in the standard of living of poor people. What factor could be said to have had the greatest positive effect on the general standard of living and wealth level of people? Education Roads Clean water vaccines No, I don't think it was any of these although they probably helped. I think it was the raising of the status of women making them equal to men. And all the things connected to it. Women were no longer the property of a man or had to get permission frtom a man to do things. Of probably the most significant benefit is the access to direct contraception, and, as a secondary factor, access to abortion, especially in assault cases. With women being able to use contraception without requiring the male to agree or approve, freed them from being the equivalent of brood mares and gave couples a better chance to increase their wealth by not having far too many children. If you're running a farm or ranch, having many children can be a good idea as they represent unpaid labor during the crucial first years the farm/ranch operates and when they're older they end up being partners in the family operation and thus can be inteested in its continued operation. If you're a poor couple living in a fifth-floor tenement another child with a mouth to feed is about as welcome as a visitation from locusts to a farm. Contrqaception allows a couple to plan when they will have kids, and what schedule. So maybe they plan their kids to have one every four years so that only one at a time is going to college. [/quote]