The Persistence of Poverty in Modern Society - Essay Example

Poverty in Global Perspective Name: Subject: Class: Roll No: Teacher: January 8, 2008 University Poverty is a global scenario and major concern for economists working inside or outside governments throughout the world. Various theories are presented to define poverty and its causes but nothing good enough has ever been conducted by any organization or government to eradicate poverty from their region at least. Poverty has many definitions and can be understood with is own little name alone as all know and realize the potential damage of poverty to the humanity. (George et al. 1992) Causes of Global Poverty: A. Overpopulation Poverty is often defined as a situation in which the number of people exceeds the resources and space available in the area they are living in. it can be caused either by too much population, or the lack of resources; though both factors can also exist together at the same time. If the population density keeps on increasing, it puts a stress on the resources available. (Tecnica. 1994) The number of people a piece of land can accommodate is limited; mostly determined by the natural resources available at that piece of land. This can be proven by the fact that a very small number of people who are associated with farming, herding, hunting etc, can live on a small piece of land. The reason being, activities like herding, gathering, farming and hunting do not produce sufficient amounts of food. (College, University of Oxford, 1999) As is normally thought, Tecnica. 1994, overpopulation may not be one of the major causes of poverty. Most rich and developed countries do not consider poverty to be caused by overpopulation, namely USA, Japan, and parts of Europe. This may be because large quantities of food and other resources are available to them. Most of their population is involved in doing farming using latest technology of machines and fertilizers.(p 34) This increases their food output and they seldom face problems due to lack of food production. These countries produce enough food to satisfy the needs of all people living therein. A country’s poverty level greatly depends on its agricultural productivity and density of population. One of the countries with largest population with reference to area is Bangladesh, which has an approximate population density of 2,855 persons per square mile. The reason for the increasing rate of poverty in Bangladesh is that most people in Bangladesh are involved in manual farming using poor technology. On the other hand, countries like the Netherlands and others in Europe, also have high population, but due to the advanced technology and high living standards that they have, poverty isn’t such a great problem for them after all. (Tecnica 1994) If we look at the other side of the picture, many countries in Africa have a population of almost 75 persons per square mile. Still, these countries are very poor. The reason behind this is that, most of the population there is engaged in manual farming. As the soil is infertile and technology and economic resources are unavailable, these countries do not have a way to boost up their production, and are thus poor. As a good example of low population and high productivity, we can take a look at United States. In the United States, the productivity is many times the population, explaining why US is one of the wealthiest nations of the world. (ECLA, 2002) High birth rates are one of the reasons for overpopulation in countries that are either impoverished, or developing. Rural areas have especially large families because children are considered as assets in poor families as they help their parents in farming and other kinds of labor. This is the reason developing people are facing threats from population explosion. B. Global Distribution of Resources It has been hinted by many experts that colonialism is one of the greatest reasons for unequal distribution of resources in different countries of the world. Some countries are facing real great threats from their increasing poverty. These countries have been trying to improve their economies by using advanced technology and industry. Some countries were met with success, while others kept trying. Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Thailand have become wealthier over the past few decades. Many countries lack proper education, training and raw materials necessary for improving their economies. Infrastructure including proper roads, power generating systems and the like are not available. So, definitely, these countries rely on the developed countries to trade in manufactured products as they can’t produce much of their own. (College, University of Oxford, 1999) It is often argued by social scientists that a form of colonialism, called Neocolonialism, is still being practiced by some countries. For example, many developed nations have been getting oil, raw material and other handmade goods from underdeveloped or developing countries in Africa, Asia and parts of America. This causes the poorer countries to remain dependent on developed countries, which is one of the reasons that are contributing in stopping those countries from raising their standards. (Tecnica. 1994) C. High Standards of Living and Costs of Living The standard of life in developed countries is higher than that in developed countries. This is because most people in developed countries have more wealth and resources than those in developing countries.(George et al. 1992) This clearly indicates that people who have a lot of wealth in developing countries are considered poor in developed countries. In USA, people earn almost $30,000 yearly and thus their standards of living are much higher. They drive more expensive cars, eat pricier foods and live in posh apartments. On the other hand, people who live in developing countries would probably be happy if they own fertile land, livestock, or a small house possibly made of mud-bricks. ECLA, 2002 In villages and other rural areas, people may be well and satisfied without gas, plumbing or other facilities like healthcare clinics. If compared to developed countries, these areas are thought of as extremely impoverished. (p-38) A higher living cost is observed in developed countries. In these countries, a very simple lifestyle without any luxuries may look expensive to people who are living in poor countries. Ample amounts of money are required for obtaining basic necessities like food, shelter and clothing in countries like the United States. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. As is illustrated in the figure, America’s population below poverty line gradually kept increasing. This is one of the factors that contribute to the fact that people getting legal minimum wages can’t make both ends meet. Some people who can’t find good jobs don’t have any income to spare for emergencies or to spend on luxuries. D. Inadequate Education and Employment Illiteracy or lack of education is main characteristics of poor countries. Governments in such countries can’t mainly afford to build good schools. On the other hand, children in developed countries have access to good schools. (ECLA, 2002) If we take a look at poor countries, many children aren’t even admitted to schools. In Africa, more than 55% children aren’t admitted o schools. This shows the reluctance of parents to send their children to schools. There may be two reasons; lack of economic resources, or the desire to make children help in farming and such labor. There are also problems of employment in developing countries. People have not been able to move on to other kinds of employment due to the fact that they have been stuck up with farming. Lack of technology makes it impossible for people to adopt other means of earning money. This causes the rate of unemployment to rise with the population.( George et al. 1992) Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. On the other hand, as the figure shows, in developed countries like US, the rate of unemployment is decreasing continuously. This is because more people are taking professions like industry and providing services than farming in recent years. This has caused and increase in job and business opportunities in US and other developed countries. When people face lack of employment, it results in lack of income and then causes a rise in poverty density. Some developing countries have succeeded in keeping their unemployment rate at a mere 2%. Unemployment, it must be noted, does not show the density of poverty of a country, but only shows the people who have the ability but can’t find the jobs, excluding people who may not be able to do good jobs at all and people who get very low wages for the work they do. E. Environmental Degradation In many countries, environmental resources are exploited and they cause a sudden decrease in a country’s economy. Environmental degradation may be of several forms, including deforestation, water pollution etc. (ECLA, 2002) These things cause problems like poverty, as a great number of people like fishermen and farmers are made unemployed. This is one of the reasons that cause the rate of unemployment to rise in the country. People who live directly on water and other land resources may not be able to find other means of earning if their means of food are destroyed or degraded. On the other hand, developed countries that can afford water and air filters do not face any threat from environmental degradation. (College, University of Oxford, 1999) They can buy tinned food and refined fuel, things mostly unheard and unseen in developing countries. Environmental degradation is caused by a number of factors, like overpopulation and overuse of land resources. Excessive farming causes the soil to lose its fertility and poses as a cause of environmental degradation of land. Overusing water resources may also be listed in environmental degradation factors. All forms of pollution mostly caused by auto vehicles, factories and people themselves contribute in environmental degradation. (Tecnica. 1994) Environmental degradation also affects developed countries, one of these forms being deforestation. It reduces the food output of the country and also causes unemployment. Pollution increases without forests and decreases indirectly the production of a country. F. Economic and Demographic Trends Poverty has also been linked to the economic behaviors of different countries. Changes in market have contributed in increase in the rate of unemployment. The amount of people, ECLA, 2002 required in manufacturing has decreased, and the number of people in services and technological jobs has increased. As the jobs related to services and technology requires an education of at least college level, something many people can’t afford, there is a lack of jobs and increase in the rate of unemployment. Some researchers believe demographic shifts have caused and increase in poverty. In US, the increase in single-parent families has caused an increase in poverty. Two-parent families have more access to jobs and earn more money. (p 36) F. Individual Responsibility and Welfare Dependency Not many people believe that individuals are responsible for increase in the rate of poverty. Only some believe that poverty is an undeniable part of a society and some people do have to be poor. They believe that poverty is beyond the power of normal people, though policies can be made to reduce it. Another school of thought is that some people are themselves responsible for doing things that make them poor. It is often shown as an example that if someone voluntarily starts using drugs, and it leads him and his family to poverty, the person himself is to blame. Such cases may be actually found in many developed countries. However, such cases do not depict the situations in which people are forced to use drugs because of poverty or because they can’t cover medical and other expenses.( College, University of Oxford, 1999) Others blame welfare programs for making the poor want to remain poor because of the incentives they receive from welfare programs. These people often oppose Governments to help the poor, as they believe it discourages them to work to improve their lifestyles, and get richer. Instead of working, they tend to remain at welfare centers. Apart form this, they tend to stay unemployed and unmarried. There are also many NGOs working in developing and developed countries. These organizations also work hard to stop poverty from spreading. (College, University of Oxford, 1999) People who believe that NGOs are the ones that help poor remain as they are, oppose the helping of poor and provision of funds to the unemployed and needy, especially minors. Still, these NGOs keep providing food, free education, and different healthcare programs. (George et al. 1992) Private development banks also help poor by providing loans and other helps like funds. US itself is running many anti-poverty programs to eliminate poverty form the country. Still, the developing countries have a long way to go. There is a need for help from other developed countries to enable them to succeed as rich and developed countries. New technology should be introduced to help these countries gain strength in the shortest time possible. This will enable them to compete side by side with developed countries and trade freely with them says George et al- 1992. (page 23) Also, people will not have to look towards others and will be able to work themselves and earn sufficient amounts of bread for their families. The ever-increasing rate of poverty can easily be slowed down with the help of developed countries. (George et al. 1992) Bibliography Manski, Charles and Steven Lerner. 1977,“The Estimation of Choice Probabilities from Choice Base Samples.” Econometrica. November, 45:8, pp. 1977–988. 23. ECLA, Globalisation and Development (ECLA, 2002), Box 2.1, p. 38. 24. Michael Gestrin, Rory Knight & Alan M. Rugman, The Templeton Global Performance Index, Templeton Encarta by Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. Pscharopoulos, George et al. 1992. "Poverty and Income Distribution in Latin America": The Story of the 1980s. Human Resources Division, Latin American and the Caribbean Department, Report No. 27. The World Bank, Washington D.C. RUTA-Unidad Regional de Asistencia Tecnica. 1994." Costa Rica: La Pobreza Vinculada al Sector Agropecuario". San Jose. Read More