Alejna: thank you for pointing out the Obama/Biden discussion on poverty on the website… I should have provided a link, so here it is: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/poverty/

In terms of international issues, I just like that fact that we may have a president who actually can pronounce Pakistan correctly!! And, I really, really like that Obama picked Biden as a running mate specifically because of Biden’s international experience and interests. He, at least, seems to ‘get’ the need of investment of schools and aid to Pakistan and was instrumental during the genocide in Kosovo/Sarajevo… even if we did go in much too late.

A small first step? Raise awareness. Few people really understand what poverty IS and (most importantly) HOW WE CONTRIBUTE TO IT. Recognizing that we all have responsibility is the biggest thing we can do, I think.

Another big step: tax corporations.

I really feel, though, that the first thing to be done is radically change the economic belief systems that provide the basis for such a skewed understanding of economy and wealth. Although the problems of using GDP as a measure of well-being are very well established and accepted, it remains the standard — until we adopt other indicators to more fully understand life quality, the way that we talk about and study poverty won’t be in line with reality.

I like the way you supplemented (and illustrated) your arguments about free trade with your experiences and observations from Honduras. It was very informative, and personal at the same time. (That’s one of the things I like best about blogging: the personal and the political, the formal and the informal, as well as various media formats, can all be so well intergrated.)

While it didn’t come up in the debate, I was pleased to see that the Obama/Biden campaign has some very concrete plans for fighting poverty on its website. At least poverty in the US. I would be interested to know more about their position on international poverty.