Who?
Like I have said before, being poor in America is nothing like being poor in another country. Africa has the highest rate of extreme poverty, which means living on less then $1 a day. After Africa, there is South Asia, East Asia, Latin America, Caribbean, East Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. Could you image living on less than a dollar a day? That means no gas, cable, telephone, groceries, etc. Even though the US is doing better than many countries, when the US is compared to other industrialized countries it has the highest poverty rates. It is surprising to me that America has the highest poverty rates compared to other industrialized countries like Japan, Germany, France, Austalia, Denmark, UK, and Sweden.
Why?
When the US is compared to similar industrialized countries it has the highest poverty rates because many jobs in the US pay low wages, even if it is a full-time job. Public benefits are limites, higher levels of income inequalities, and capabilitiy failures. Globalization can also be blamed for the poverty rated in extreme poverty countries. Globalization is making rich countries richer and poorer countries poorer. Also the gap between the rich and poor is creating huge problems in all countries.
girl, you made a good point saying "being poor in the us is not the same as being poor in another country". It is so true that, although yes we do have entirely to much poverty in the US, it still does not compare to the types of poverty occuring in other parts of the world. At least in the US, the poor stricken are sympathized upon and have so many options of being out of their situation. Whereas in other countries, poor people are literally spit upon and forgotten...
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right, while, we have among the highest poverty rate of the industrialized world, the poverty experienced in the United States cannot be compared to that of the developing world. A study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty indicates that in the United States between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness. Although this numbers are discouraging, this statistics only prove that poverty is much more severe in countries that lack a stable economy. In other parts of the world, the issue is not whether they have to stay the night at a filthy homeless shelter, the problem is whether they will survive to see another sunrise. There are individuals out there who starve to death- can you think of a more painful death? What is even more disheartening is that they do not have the resources to improve their condition. It makes one wonder, why do some people even bother to make such gigantic fortunes if they have no intention of helping humanity?
ReplyDelete(I deleted my comment because I forgot to copy the link from where I got the statistics)
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/526/homeless-facts.html
I totally agree with you about the difference of poverty in the United States vs Africa. The United States should not have such a wide gap in income inequality between the rich and poor. Because the United States is Industrialized, we should definitely have a smaller percentage of people living in poverty. Reducing the income inequality would definitely reduce poverty. The United States should focus more efforts on this strategy to help move people out of poverty.
ReplyDeleteOverall you made some excellent points!