Discussion and responses
Holley W discussion 8
Pope Benedict XVI stated “our efforts to address poverty reflect our commitment to the dignity of the human person and to building a more just and peaceful world” (Fighting Poverty to Build Peace, 2009). There are 37.3 million people living in poverty in the US alone (Fighting Poverty to Build Peace, 2009). “Around 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty with incomes of less than $1.25 a day” (Burand & Koch, 2010). Yunus states that “poverty is a chronic problem that impinges on global security issues and plagues nearly half of the world’s people. Poverty is a threat to peace” (2007). “Poverty destroys human potential, breeds despair and violence and undermines human security” (Hubbard, 2009). “Fighting poverty is not only good for the poor, it’s good for business and the whole of society” (Green, 2006).
Poverty is a real problem around the world. The above paragraph identifies the scholarly support documenting what a global crisis poverty is. Additionally, it further supports the need to address poverty from a security or safety stand point. Poverty needs to be addressed on the global level. If we decrease poverty we will also decrease conflicts in the impoverished locations (Marshall, 2004).
Thomas Rutledge of Charter Communications Inc. made 98 Million dollars in 2016 as their CEO (Choe, 2017). Cristiano Ronaldo a soccer player earned 58 million dollars in 2017 (Badenhausen, 2017). These two salaries combined earned 156 Million. When we calculate this astronomical number to 1.25 per day that some people are living on we see that this could pay 124,800,000 people for one day of living. We reward our CEO’s and our athlete’s absurd salaries while people around the world are starving to death.
Finally, to answer the question at hand, I fully believe that global corporations share a responsibility in helping to address the epidemic of poverty. “As a major actor the private sectors has an important role to play in promoting economic and political progress around the world” (Pehn, 2009). Our poverty rate for individuals over 65 in America is 9.7 percent (Fighting Poverty to Build Peace, 2009). For this audience alone, we have to understand this demographic worked and contributed to society up until and including their senior years and yet we pay them a minimal amount of social security that they can barely get by. I have an Aunt who “makes” 1500 a month and that is the only income she gets. We have forced these individuals into impoverished situations and we owe this generation more than dignity and pride. “Moreover, the daily struggle to just survive can inhibit the poor from effectively organizing and advocating against discriminatory policies and practices that contribute to their deprived status” (Olson, 1971).
Speaking specifically for the elderly, we should implement a strategy to pay them more on a monthly basis for the services they rendered in their professions even if these professions were minimal. Corporations should reinstate pensions (Reno, 1993) that so many baby boomers are living off today. As a 43-year-old with no real savings to speak of, but who has work since I was 18, I have to wonder what will be available to me that I have paid into when I turn 65. The answer is, nothing. If we are already forcing our elderly into poverty then we have potentially doomed other generations to this same fate.
Badenhausen, K. (2017, June). The World's Highest Paid Athletes 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/athletes/#1a5ed23f55ae
Burand, D., & Koch, D. W. (2010). Microfranchising: A business approach to fighting poverty. Franchise Law Journal, 30(1), 24-34. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/791825044?accountid=4870
Choe, S. (2017, May 23). Top 10 highest paid CEOs in 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2018, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/05/23/ceo-pay-highest-paid-chief-executive-officers-2016/339079001/
FIGHTING POVERTY TO BUILD PEACE. (2009, January 1). Retrieved from Libreria Editrice Vaticana: http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20081208_xlii-world-day-peace.html
Green, E. (2006). World bank calls for more aggressive latin america poverty fight. (). Washington: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/190011328?accountid=4870
Hubbard, H. J. (2009, Feb 09). Fighting poverty to build peace. America, 200, 11-14. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/209718873?accountid=4870
Marshall, K. (2004). Faith perspectives for development institutions: New faces of compassion and social justice. International Journal, 59(4), 893-901. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/220847312?accountid=4870
Olson, M.: 1971, The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).
Penh, B. (2009). New convergences in poverty reduction, conflict, and state fragility: What business should know. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 515-528. http://dx.doi.org.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0404-6
Reno, V. P. (1993, Spring). The role of pensions in retirement income: Trends and questions. Social Security Bulletin, 56, 29-43. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/227773767?accountid=4870
Yunus, M. (2007). THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S AGENDA: PRIORITIZING COMMITMENT TO COMBAT GLOBAL POVERTY. UN Chronicle, 44(1), 22-23. Retrieved from https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/docview/218143896?accountid=4870