Ten Facts About Poverty
Poverty has serious collateral
effects for individuals and communities at large. Public and private institutions take on
burdens that could be easily quelled if better administrations of kindness were
delivered. Ordinary citizens deal with
stressors that the public and private institutions have yet to resolve. Given this, one of the most egregious
collateral harms is that insinuations arise because of the drudgery that
poverty brings to the previously mentioned organizations and civilians. Stereotypes, that is. People who are struggling to get by tend to be
labeled as inferior or have some derogatory adjective projected upon them. As terrible as all of this may sound, some
positive can come from understanding the reality of poverty in the world. Thus, here are ten facts about poverty that
everyone should know.
1.) Poverty is not chosen.
No one chooses to be poor. Individuals, communities, and entire nations
are impoverished because of lack of resources.
The term “resources” encompasses everything that is associated with
poverty – even the social ills that people like to suggest are based on poor
decision making (substance abuse, gambling addiction, etc.). Capitalism has entrenched many parts of the
world and because of its competitive aspects many poverty-related issues tend
to be ignored or not fully dealt with.
Poverty is also generational.
2.) Healthcare could significantly
decrease poverty.
Increasing access to healthcare
allows individuals to live an active lifestyle, but also helps develops bonds
in communities. Studies have shown that
the when people are not distressed about getting sick or receiving treatment
for a symptom, ailment, or disorder, then productivity in an area increases and
there are fewer negative emotions.
Moreover, the more productive and healthier people are, the more likely
they are able to rise above poverty-based problems.
3.) Poverty
happens in wealthy nations.
Countries that have a surplus of
wealth still deal with poverty. Lack of
employment, healthcare, and disasters are the top reasons that cause many
people to live in poverty in wealthy nations.
Even with assistance from the government, many people find it difficult
to surpass poverty and are forced to deal with their issues on their own. Moreover, poverty brings problems for local
economies and, at times, small businesses and small non-profit organizations
struggle to get by and keep up with the demands that poverty-related issues are
bringing.
4.) Approximately
one-half of the world lives in poverty.
Nearly one-half of the world’s
populations lives on less that $2.50 a day.
More than 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty and live off of
less than $1.25 a day. Many of these
individuals have significant others and children to take care of, and if it was
not for the assistance from public and private organizations many serious
illnesses and deaths would occur or come about.
5.) There are thousands of organizations
that are dedicated to addressing poverty.
Many organizations are dedicated to
ending poverty. These organizations have
millions of people who travel the world, work in their communities, and
advocate for better regulations and policies that end poverty. There are many large-scale operations and
smaller organizations that work together, or independently, to make the world a
better place. Case in point, there are
many people out there that want to help and solve poor living conditions.
6.) Poverty
is not accurately depicted in mainstream media.
We have seen the commercials that say
that a small donation of a few pennies a day could greatly help a person
dealing with poverty-related issues.
However, these advertisements are not depicting poverty in a realistic
fashion. Many individuals dealing with
poverty are not dealing with extremes that are shown in advertisements like the
above-mentioned. In fact, there are many
categories of poverty and certainly not all of them include individuals dealing
with hunger issues, living in an environment with no running or clean water, and
do not have any other assistance other than the organizations that make these
advertisements. The media does not cover
poverty like they should. Political
bickering, sports trends, and celebrities are the main focus of media in most
parts of the world. In most cases,
social problems only get covered when serious natural disasters occur or
violence breaks out.
7.) Africa
is the poorest continent in the world.
Africa has the lowest gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita in the world.
Many regions in the continent are still very underdeveloped and have
poorly organized governments. Because of
the lack of government regulations and assistance, many Africans live a
desolate lifestyle and engage in activities that only provide gratuities for
themselves and their families. National
products are not manufactured or sold in ways like many other locations in the
world.
8.) Poverty
causes under-education.
Because of the stressors that poverty
brings, many individuals and communities are not engaging in education or
developing educational programs.
Impoverished communities and individuals are dealing daily survival and,
because of this, do not have the time or resources to participate in or sustain
educational programs. When people are
struggling to eat or find a safe place to sleep, education gets put on the
backburner and simultaneously increases the rate of poverty and inability to
secure resources that would aid in overcoming poverty.
9.) Global
networking is not as vast as it should be.
Many organizations work together to
eliminate poverty on an international level.
Yet, the networking is not as organized as it should be. The United Nations, European Union, World
Health Organization, and the alike organizations can only concentrate on so
many issues and typically put their resources toward the most pressing issues
found in the globe. Many nations ask for
assistance but do not receive it in a timely fashion or at all because of the
focus on dealing with the most serious poverty-related issues in the
world.
10.) Poverty is something that could be completely eliminated.
There are enough resources and organizations to end global poverty. This is a fact. Food, healthcare, and educational programs could be administered in a fashion that eliminates poverty altogether. The only thing that is stopping the elimination of global poverty in the large number of bureaucratic regulations, selfish human behaviors, and digressive outputs toward world issues by international leaders in the political arena today. If every nation in the world were to come together and determine how assistance is necessary to eliminate global poverty, they would learn that the amount of resources that is necessary are minimal hardships in their budgets or domestic resources.
Overall, poverty
has many nuances that could make this list much longer. Degrees of poverty and the reasons they come
about are a complex issue to discuss and describe. Nonetheless, these facts present the reality
of global poverty and, in turn, allow people to comprehend the causations of
the issues, as well as the importance of the poverty problem in the world
today. Most importantly, poverty is an
issue that appears to ignored in many facets of our society, and until people
begin to learn about the intricacies of the issues associated with it, then the
problem can start to be properly addressed.
—Benjamin J. Bolton
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