Op-ed 2: Is it possible to be rich without having some people be poor?

I've studied capitalism for a long while now, and I even have a Masters in Management to prove it, but I've often wondered about one simple thing.

Is it possible to be rich without having some people be poor?

I mean, think about it. The way we determine who is "better off" is if there are many others who are NOT as well-off as that person. What point would there be for Bill Gates to have $50 Billion if everyone else had the same amount of money? Just from the law of supply and demand, that would mean a great deal of competition for limited resources, and Bill Gates wouldn't have any advantage at all over anyone else.

Now think about THAT when you think about the problems of poor countries such as those in Africa.

The US, for instance, has recently stated that it would refuse to promote any kind of carbon emissions reduction program in line with the international community. It has already shot down the Kyoto Protocol. The reason? It would harm the US economy. So billions all over the world struggle with the effects of climate change (which the Republicans refuse to admit is happening), with crops failing, water drying up and millions starving, while the US happily goes on consuming at a degree that is ultimately destructive to the rest of the world. All in pursuit of the great capitalist ideal of "wealth."

Personally, I won't be a hypocrite and say that I would like to be poor. Of course I wouldn't want to be. I, too, want to be rich. I, too, want to live a comfortable life. But even as I attempt to live this kind of life, I can't help wondering about all those who MUST be poor for me to be rich. I'm not going to lie and say that I would rather trade places with them, but I will say that I would rather we had a system that didn't make some people TOO damn rich at the expense of a lot of others who are too damn poor.

For now, however, the status quo dictates that we continue to pursue wealth in this great rat race of life. As a wise man once said, however, "Even if we win this damn race... doesn't that still make us rats in the end?"