I was contemplating economics the other day while taking a shower. Elections naturally bring up this topic, so it's been jingling around my head, and I do some of my best thinking in the shower. Here are some of the random thoughts that I had. 1) You will always have poor people. You know what? Our discussions of economics and politics will be much simpler if we come to terms with this reality. Poor people have always existed, and poor people will always exist. As a poor person (by first-world standards, anyway), I am okay with that. It simply is the way that the world is. Why, you ask, must it be this way? Well, I can give you at least three reasons. Firstly, some poor people like being poor. They might not like being poor per se, but they would rather remain poor than do what is necessary to lift themselves out of poverty. Politicians can talk about equality and social justice, but it is inescapable that every soc...