Distinguished guests, ladies, and
gentlemen; today I seek to address an issue that has been here for us from one
generation to another. It is common to switch on the television and see a
campaign to aid children in Africa who live in abject poverty, walk on the
streets, and meet a homeless man or woman. Poverty is an issue that every
political leader promises to address in both developed and underdeveloped
countries. However, do you ever wonder why poverty increases in areas that have
been historically poor? Does it concern you that those neighborhoods that were
poor when you were a young boy are still the poorest to date? It is not that
the poor don’t work, but we all know that in the capitalist society we live in
today, to get a good education you need money, to get proper sanitation you
need more money a good health care you need insurance (Smeeding et. al.,1990).
Even to start a business, you need to own something so that the banks can
consider giving you a loan. I am here today to remind us all that poverty is
because of the inequality that we promote by making the fundamental rights of
sections of society inaccessible. We can confidently state that increased
inequality in society causes poverty. However, the good news is that just like
any man made inequalities, and it can be overcome and eradicated through the
collective actions of individuals.
“Poverty is a disease that eats you not
just from the outside but also from the inside†these are the words of a woman
from Bolivia living in abject (Picture 1). It is
the ordeal that billions of people around the world have to live with every day
of their life. It is further painful because, the poorest who are the majority
in the world are also the same people with the least access to health,
education and other social services (Murali, 2004).
They suffer and die from diseases such as Malaria and measles that no one in
the 21st century should be dying from. It is because; the minority holds the
resources needed to access these basic social needs in society. The owners and
shareholders of the pharmaceutical corporations are the ones controlling the
prices of such drugs yet it is not their children, mothers, sisters, or
brothers suffering from the ailments. The world has been left under the control
of the merchants who are the owners of the resources and means of production
and hence do what is necessary to make sure that the poor remain poor.
We live in a society where the
wealthier one is, the more the political and economic policies are bound to
benefit you. Imagine a country that spends more money to finance a war in a
foreign country than they spend in the education of the public. It had happened
in America before during the Vietnamese War where the military spent billions
in financing the war yet the African American people remained without access to
education (Smith & Stephen, 2005). There were no good educational
and health policies that could benefit those from the lower socioeconomic
strata. It continues to happen today with the plans we hear around the world
focused on making the rich richer and the poor forgotten. They call it a
vicious cycle of poverty, but I call it a vicious cycle of inequality.
In a report on World Social Situation:
The Inequality Predicament by the United Nations Poverty Social Policy and
Development Division, it states that poverty alleviation efforts cannot be
sustainable and successful unless there is equality (Undesadspd.org,
2015).. There is the need to ensure that individuals access equal
opportunities to resources and access to basic social services such as
education. Globally, over 1 billion people live below the poverty lines just
indicate the high levels of inequality in society. Inequality in every form not
only impairs the growth and development of the corporation but also increases
the levels of poverty.
Corruption in every respect is one of
the worst forms of inequality among the developed and the developing nations.
Poverty is a consequence of corrupt policies makers and corrupt systems of
governance. Imagine a project meant to cost the taxpayer a certain amount of
money inflated to serve the interest of certain individuals and hence costs the
nation more money. Projects gave in a fraudulent manner to contractors that
have no interests of the public at heart, making them unsustainable and not
attaining the desired objectives. It leads to an extreme form of inequality and
subsequently leads to increased poverty among the taxpayers and the society in
general (Sarah, 2009).
Time has come to see poverty for what
it is. It is a typical outcome of unfairness, inequity, and lack of
opportunities. Imagine being born in an environment where you cannot access
food, education, or health by the mere virtue that you were born in a
disadvantaged family. Imagine a situation where you cannot even access a simple
job without engaging in corruption through bribery, tribalism, or nepotism (Globalpovertyproject.com, 2015). Imagine living in an
environment where you are paid less than 2 dollars in a day yet the government
expects you to take a health insurance to access good healthcare. Failing to
offer people opportunities is like expecting your child to acquire language
fluency one day yet you lock them in a room and have never spoken to him or
her. Therefore, poverty can only be eradicated through providing equal access
to opportunities and social services to all individuals regardless of their
background.
References
Murali, V. (2004). Poverty, social
inequality and mental health. Advances In Psychiatric
Treatment, 10(3),
216-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/apt.10.3.216
Sarah B. (2009). Behind the Development Banks:
Washington Politics, World Poverty, and the
Wealth
of Nations.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smeeding,
Timothy M., O'Higgins, Michael & Rainwater, L. (1990). Poverty,
Inequality and
Income Distribution in Comparative
Perspective. New
York: Urban Institute Press.
Smith & Stephen C. (2005). Ending Global Poverty: a
guide to what works, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
A/V
aids
Undesadspd.org,. (2015). Poverty and
Inequality. Retrieved 15 November 2015, from
http://undesadspd.org/Poverty/PovertyandInequality.aspx
Globalpovertyproject.com,. (2015). Global
Poverty Project. Retrieved 15 November 2015, from
http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/
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