Mini-Assignment _ English NO PLAGERISM
asheyw5
poverty_i_essay.docxAshley Waddy
English 112
November 23, 2015
Poverty 2
What I Know, Assume, or Imagine
Poverty is the state of lacking something. Personally, I view poverty as the lack of ability in monetary terms. This is conveyed about by, one being declared bankrupt or unemployment or even one being lazy. These factors have led to people reoccupying their households and dwelling in the slums.
Not everyone though, who lives in the slums is poor and not everyone who also lives well is rich. From what I have learned, everyone who lives below one Dollar a day is poor.
The Search
According to the dictionary, poverty is the state of lacking a social or common acceptable amount of material possessions or money. World Bank describes poverty as a deprivation of one’s wellbeing which comprises many dimensions. This is the inability of acquiring the basic goods and services and low incomes
Also, poverty girdles inadequate security, lack of a voice or say, low opportunity and capacity to better one’s livelihood, poor access to sanitation and clean water, and low levels of education and health.
Poverty is measured as either relative poverty or absolute poverty also known as extreme poverty. The Copenhagen Declaration focuses only on absolute poverty. Absolute poverty is the condition brought about by severe lack of basic human needs. These are food, clothing, shelter and security. Education, health and information are also included.
Absolute poverty is the state where one lives below one Dollar a day and relative poverty is the state by which one lives below two Dollars a day.
According to a survey conducted by the World Bank Development Indicators in 2008, 12% of the world’s population are extremely poor. This means that these people live below one Dollar a day. 8% of the same population lived on 1.25 Dollars a day, 6% at 1.45 Dollars and 14% at 2 Dollars a day. This means that 28% of the world’s population are relatively poor. Generally, less than 80% of the population live below 10 Dollars a day.
The main causes of poverty around the World are, bad government policies, lack of individual responsibility, power and influence among businesses and exploitation of people. There are more factors like, agricultural cycles, warfare, natural disasters, power centralization, corruption and environmental degradation.
However, each of the causes above has a solution. In agricultural cycles, there are people in many parts of the world who rely solely on agriculture as their source of wealth and basic commodities. Normally, all consumption commodities will rely on the agricultural cycles. Take an example of fruits and vegetables. For the families who rely on these commodities, there are periods which they will experience scarcity thus hunger. This will then lead to lack of sufficient resources to satisfy their minimal nutrition needs thus causing diseases. However, they can plant their agricultural products in cycles too. For example, if a commodity takes three months to mature, they can subdivide the land to accommodate all their commodities and ensure that they plant every month to ensure the flow of food.
For instance, of natural disasters, nothing can be done to stop them, but prevention measures can be taken. Individually, one can take insurance for their belongings. This will help rebuild after am occurrence. To the nation’s most prone to the disasters, infrastructures should be constructed to withhold the aftermath. For example, in nations prone to earthquakes, they should have policies on how buildings are to be constructed. This will prevent the numbers of casualties affected. In areas prone to floods, strong infrastructure should be brought up to withhold the floods.
What I Discovered
According to the study, I came to learn that most people in the world are poor. It is up to each and every one to prevent poverty. Most factors that bring about poverty can be evaded. Take an example of corruption. Rooting out the corrupt leaders can be a great step towards eradicating poverty.
We should take it upon ourselves to also get rid of those behaviors and morals that are slowly eating us up from within. Take an example of social inequality. No matter our religious differences, I believe that we are all equal in the eyes of the Lord thus by implementing this theory we can assist the children living in the slums. Providing education to these children will help bring up a better tomorrow, thus bringing us a step closer to eradicating poverty.
References
Encyclopedia Britannica, 'Poverty | Sociology'. N.P., 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Gdrc.org, 'Causes of Poverty'. N.P., 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Jensen, Eric. Teaching with Poverty in Mind. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2009. Print.
Worldbank.org, 'Poverty Home'. N.P., 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
