I frankly don't see anything wrong with the production of materials, and the social problems we face are overrated. Most of our current social problems are caused by socialism and government regulation. We are making headway: welfare reform has been a great success in the US, and allowing citizens to carry concealed firearms has resulted in lower violent crime rates. Employment is high, the standard of living is high, and if we can enact more free market reforms things will get even better.The environment is quite good in the US. To bad that so much harm was visited upon the environment by the socialist governments of the former Soviet Union, East Germany, et al.
Equity isn't an issue to me. Neither is relative standards of living. I know of people in the US who worked hard and went from poverty level wages (the way poverty is defined in the US) to very high pay--in short order. In the US, the poor can become well-to-do fast. Some poor tend to stay that way: these are the ones who refuse to work and stay at home collecting welfare checks. These are the ones that don't want to work. Getting them off of welfare is the best thing for them. If Third World countries adopt the free market, their standard of living will improve. If they remain socialist, it will be a pity, but it will not be the fault of the free market.
