Greg Boyles

What is the difference between a politician and a computer? You only have to PUNCH the information into a computer once!

Point taken but I am not convinced that increasing the wealth of islamic countries would signficantly decrease their political instability or poverty levels.

I guess you would have to compare, between western and islamic countries, how effectively wealth is shared across the population. How big are their middle and upper classes compared to those living in poverty. It is probably safe to say that the middle and upper classes of most islamic countries are quite small. That is why they are pretty much all politically unstable. Not withstanding the difference in wealth between western and islamic countries. If they acquired more wealth then the upper classes of islamic countries would likely become even more wealthy with little sharing out of that increased wealth. Apart from the fact that any increase in wealth would be greatly diluted, if it was shared out, by their quite large and growing populations. They would remain politically unstable.

Sorry to rain on your parade but here is some more facts and figures that don't support you assumptions about Arabia. My link Poverty Hides Amid Saudi Arabia's Oil Wealth There is another consistant characteristic of islamic countries - a sectarian divide with a rich and powerful minority, of either sunnni or shiite, oppressing an impoversihed majority of the other group. Or in some cases another religious or ethnic group entirely, e.g. Sudan

Poverty in Arabia That Saudi Arabia is not an exception to the previously mentioned proposition that islamic countries are third world /develoing countries.

Saudi Arabia and other 'rich' muslim nations also have a very high proportion of citizens living in poverty I believe. There is a big gap between the minority of haves and the majority of have nots. They are also overwhelmingly counties with high fertility and a very large proportion of their citizens under the age of 30. A demographic profile that promotes political instability when the younger demographic can't get jobs and a slice of the wealth.

I live in Epping on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. I am a former medical scientist and windows/C++ programmer I am currently running a small landscaping business as well as working casually in the conservation sector (weed control and revegetation etc). My landscaping business is closely aligned with my work in conservation sector. BSc University of Melbourne Graduate Diploma in Computer Science Latrobe University I suppose you could say that I am slowly gaining a partial botany degree, bit by bit, through my current occupation. I am extremely frustrated that over population is not being discussed as an environmental and climate change issue. Although this has recently changed in Australia thanks to Dick Smith, Kelvin Thompson, Bob Carr, Tim Flannery and several other prominent Australians.