Question

why woulfd it be better to be a poor farmer i9n a rich country than a poor street seller

Answer 1

Short answer: Because living in a wealthy country usually gives even poor people much stronger public services, legal protections, infrastructure and economic supports than living in a poorer setting — and a poor farmer often has additional advantages (land, food, some asset value) that a poor street seller usually does not.

Why, in more detail (common reasons):

- Social safety nets and public services — Rich countries typically offer health care, unemployment or welfare benefits, child benefits, disability support and public schooling. Those protections reduce risk and out-of-pocket costs for poor households.

- Access to affordable healthcare — Illness is one of the biggest causes of destitution. Public or subsidized healthcare protects income and savings in ways informal street selling rarely does.

- Education and mobility — Public schools and adult training increase children’s chances of moving up the income ladder; families can invest in education more reliably.

- Infrastructure and markets — Good roads, electricity, storage, market information and regulated markets reduce losses and improve prices for farm produce; that increases the chance a farmer can earn more or sell surplus.

- Property and legal protections — Even a small plot of land is an asset you can live on, grow food on, and sometimes use as collateral. Farmers with secure tenure face less arbitrary eviction than many informal urban vendors do.

- Food security — A farmer can directly produce food for the household, reducing vulnerability to price spikes and food shortages that hit urban informal workers hard.

- Access to finance and extension services — Rich-country institutions are more likely to provide small loans, grants, crop insurance, and agricultural extension/advice, helping farmers manage risk and invest.

- Lower exposure to harassment and informal fees — Street sellers in weak-rule-of-law settings often face confiscation of goods, bribes, fines or police harassment. Farmers in regulated systems face fewer day-to-day extortions.

- Regulation and labor protections — Employment and business activities are more likely to be regulated fairly, reducing exploitation and unsafe working conditions.

Caveats and exceptions:
- "Poor farmer" is not always better: in some rich countries smallholders still struggle with debt, climate risks, and low commodity prices. Landless rural laborers can be very vulnerable.
- Urban poor sometimes earn more than rural poor because cities have denser job markets and higher wages for casual work.
- Outcomes depend heavily on specific country policies (how strong the safety net is, how land rights are enforced, whether agricultural supports exist).
- Informal street sellers in rich countries can also get municipal support, and some succeed considerably.

If you want, tell me a specific country or scenario (e.g., “poor farmer in the U.S.” vs “street vendor in a developing city”) and I can compare likely incomes, supports and risks more concretely.