Poverty
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Both rich and poor people suffer as a consequence of not loving our neighbour as ourselves. However, it is clear that the poor suffer more than the rich. One sixth of the world are wealthy. One sixth are in extreme poverty (living on less than $1 or 50p a day). A further one third are in less extreme poverty (living on $1-$2 or 50p-£1 a day) and the other third are on a moderate income.

The main causes of poverty are:

  • Natural disasters.
  • Disease.
  • Drought, which can be made worse by climate change.
  • Economic oppression (e.g. sweat shop labour).
  • Corruption.
  • Third world debt interest payments.
  • War.

Many of these causes originate from the selfish motives of people who have influence over the lives of those who are in poverty. This implies that a culture in which people love their neighbour as themselves would be an effective method to reduce poverty. While writing this chapter, I was reading a book by Jeffrey Sachs. He claims that most poverty is not caused by exploitation from the richer countries. He goes on to suggest that poverty comes as a result of climate problems and disease such as AIDS and malaria. This is true, but climate problems such as global warming are made worse by consumerism and pollution. Kenya is one of the countries worst affected by global warming but produces hardly any carbon dioxide gas in comparison to Western nations.

Additionally, his claims that poverty is not caused by oppression do not stand up to the evidence. Historically, Africa has been colonised and exploited. Even today, countries such as Zambia and the Congo are being exploited for their mineral resources by China, which uses raw materials such as cobalt and copper ore to produce consumer electronics sold to the West (Source: Unreported World, Channel 4). Workers can earn less than 50p a day and the trade uses child labour. The diamond trade also exploits African workers and keeps them in extreme poverty, despite being very expensive to purchase in the West. The trade of unregistered diamonds also promotes violent conflict.

Western nations should not be blamed for all of the problems in Africa. Warfare (particularly civil war) and governmental corruption are also major causes of poverty. The war in the Congo is particularly unpleasant and involves child soldiers. A recent edition of Channel 4's Dispatches showed that bribery and corruption are a normal part of Kenyan life, and people who have any power routinely use it to exploit those with less power than themselves. A lot of foreign aid money and one quarter of African GDP is thought to be lost to corruption.

There are some interesting statistics on global poverty in the book. For example, the numbers of extremely poor people in Africa (living on less than $1 a day) has actually doubled in the period 1981-2001, and about half the population of Africa live in extreme poverty. People who live in extreme poverty cannot meet the basic needs for survival. They are chronically hungry and lack access to sanitation and safe drinking water and basic items of clothing (such as shoes). One sixth of the global population (1 billion people) live like this, and a further 1.5 billion live in less extreme poverty ($1-$2 per day) making a total of 2.5 billion people in poverty.

Finally, here are some statistics from http://www.globalissues.org:

  • Half the world – nearly three billion people – live on less than two dollars a day.

  • The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.

  • Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

  • A billion children live in poverty (one in two children in the world).

  • 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of five (or roughly 29,000 children per day).