Why Do We Keep Creating Poverty?
People are starving all over the world and yet, the culprits who create poverty do nothing to address or help the problem.
In the world, we see so many families unable to provide for their children, we see starvation, we see the lack of education in communities, we see so many injustices, we see so many unnecessary deaths.
And through these unfortunate events, we continuously see the government unwilling to make a change.
Poverty strikes many places, even where there is an abundance of wealth. Poverty is not the result of the people, it is the result of how economies run in certain countries. Corporations and the government run their economy in a way where people are not the main concern. They take and take and take. But at what point, will something catastrophic be enough for them to care? The point where people began to lose their jobs, not have enough money to buy basic needs… that should already be more than enough for a government to want to make a change.
In Vandana Shiva’s, “Living Economies” from Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace, she addresses how the world is abundant in resources and yet, people choose to constantly take more than what is needed. This generation of scarcity comes from the globalized free market economy. What we need, however, is an Earth Democracy. It stems from a Nature and a Sustenance economy, it is a democracy that allows people to have equal access to Earth’s resources.
This excerpt from Shiva’s, “Living Economies,” frightens me because its true. People aren’t deemed as an important enough factor for leaders to care and help the economy and the world become better. The world should be prosperous for everyone regardless of social status, race, age, or gender. Greed has resulted in this horror of not caring about people dying because they have no food, no place to live, no hygienic essentials, no way of receiving healthcare.
The American education system is lacking in many ways. So many families struggle sending their children to school. Although I have always been aware of the struggles, it became more apparent when I transitioned into college. I am always worrying about the financial aspect of being able to continue. I attend the University of California, Riverside and Riverside organizes R’Pantry, a food pantry. Students with food insecurity go here to get food because they cannot afford it. I think it is great that Riverside does this, however, students should not be starving in the first place. And again, it’s not just with education. It’s healthcare, it’s housing, it’s not being able to afford basic human needs.
Given the advances in technology and medicine, there is a sense of progression, however, there is no stability with the economy. The sustainability of our economy might as well be going backwards. Despite the advances in medicine, many people still cannot provide themselves with healthcare. In fact, according to the “American Journal of Public Health,” in 2009, as many as 45,000 people died every year for want of health insurance. Despite the date, nine years later, people are still dying due to the lack of healthcare. Now, imagine third world countries. It saddens me that this is the way the government chooses to govern their countries.
One example that connects with the reality of poverty is a place in Los Angeles called Skid Row. With nearly 2,000 people living and sleeping on Skid Row, many are lacking in basic needs. One problem in particular, is the need for restrooms. There are not enough restrooms for everyone and as a result, people have no choice but to do their business on the sidewalks of the streets. I don’t think anyone should have to go through that. Along with being unsanitary, it is very dangerous for the people that live there. The feces and the urine can cause many diseases. It indicated there was an increased risk of meningitis, tuberculosis, diarrheal disease and many other illnesses. And if the people who live in Skid Row become infected for living in such poor conditions, they won’t be able to afford medical care to take care of themselves. They will become sick and die. And that is no place to die.
This current generation is one where the future of America won’t be able to make more money than their parents. Given the exceedingly high prices for everything, I fear for the future. In a time where we should be moving forward, it seems like we are moving backwards.
Given the abundance of resources the earth provides us, I always wondered why there was so much poverty. As I got older, I became more aware of the problems in the world and realized that the good guys we thought were good, are not always the good guys. Everything is consumed by corporations and governments. And while people are also denied resources, there is a vicious greed for more. On top of the horrors of poverty we see that there is a serious issue with climate change. Sustainability and climate change don’t go together. This has resulted in the alteration of our environment and at an increasing rate, we are losing more and more resources. “The survival of pastures and forests as community property, or of a common good like a stable ecosystem, is only possible with social organizations with checks and controls on the use of resources built into their principles.” This is something that should be deemed important to better the whole world.
I am not sure at what point corporations and governments will realize that all people are important. Overpopulation should not be seen as a burden. People should not be seen as a burden. The reoccurring theme we continuously see is that there is no incentive for the government or corporations to care as long as they are doing fine. And lastly, Gandhi addresses the sad reality of modern civilization saying that it, “ Seeks to increase bodily comforts, and it fails miserably even in doing so… This civilization is such that one has only to be patient and it will be self-destroyed… there is no end to the victims destroyed in the fire of [this] civilization. Poverty can be abolished with a change in social organization and the way people are viewed. Greed should not be a determinant in deciding who gets to live or not.
A change in our economy and our way of life is long overdue and the change needs to start now.
