Enviado por griffin orourke el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:17am.
I don't believe we have a moral obligation to help anyone outside our own country because, frankly, it's not our business to interfere in other people's affairs. Anyone remember Iraq?
Enviado por KellyBrap el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 8:13pm.
Nah though, yes obv its a bit rubbish for them but I mean I cant really do anything and neither can you or anyone else so yeah, just forget about it and enjoy your lives (Y)
I think poverty is obviously an awful thing but i do not beleive that you can iradicate it, because if you get to a certain standard where everyone one has the basic essentials of life such as shelter, food, water etc.. but once we then get to that stage people being normal human beings will always want someting better than the next country. As a result it will all go back to the starting point. But that doesn't go to say that we don't have to help these countrys in poverty. I do think that everyone should participate in helping poverty even though we probably will never be able to stop it completely. I do strongly beleive that we (charities etc..) should be able to give our money raised to the people in difficulties themselves because most of their goverments are corrupt anyway and will most likley spend the money wastefully or on themselves. This is why we see some of the most richest people in the world in Africa living only a few miles away from people in extreme poverty situations. All of what i've said has mainly been based on Africa and countries like that because that is what first springs to mind but of course we shouldn't froget the people in poverty in our own countries like the elderly who cant afford their heating bills or to buy enough food to feed themselves, aswll as children carers in poverty not having enough money to care for themselves aswell as a sick or disabled relative.
Our many disscussions in probably every single lesson were very interessting because we got to hear everybody's view point on poverty, because as we know everybody has their different view points on such things as this.
We mainly disscussed what we thought poverty was and what it meant to us, and the main answer was that poverty is a lack of essentials and money of course. We did some posters about how poverty effects the mid in Psychology and how poverty is all very relative depending on where and when you are from.
In English we analysed two poems about the difference between rich and poor in the same societey and how they live side by side but choose to ignore each other really as they have done for a long time. And of course we thought of what poverty was and how it affected us etc...
In Maths we saw poverty through a money point of view with help from the World Bank and their statistics. This showed that different countries have different perceptions of money for example $1 could mean a whole years wage to someone else in the world. We also saw that a lot of countries that are"stereotyped" as being poor are actually not and vice verser. It's really quite surprising to see that so many countries can live of less than $1 a day!
And of course in TOK we debated about our different views of poverty and disscussed weather we could irradicate poverty or not, and if there ever was an end to it all. We also came up with some solutions to extreme poverty such as world poverty tax, where we could tax a percentage of the world and give the money raised to the countries in poverty.
you are not interfering in their lives, iraq was a war , you are just giving aid and i think its better to give away money you don't need than hug it to yourself and die leaving it wasting away
Umm, I suppose I should talk about poverty instead of fore extinguishers! Sigh! Um, I think we should round up all the billionaires and shoot them, all, and then we can give their money to all the really poor african people. Only, then they will become corrupt african billionaires, and but nuclear weapons, and kill us all! Aah! End of the world!!!!
Bye everyone!
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Although we will never be able to truly erradicate poverty and we may not make a difference individually, we believe that we do have a moral obligation to try and help others that dont have the things that we take for granted.
"I don't believe we have a moral obligation to help anyone outside our own country because, frankly, it's not our business to interfere in other people's affairs. Anyone remember Iraq?"
Although I agree with not interfering with other people's affairs using military action, I think assistance with poverty is a completely different thing.
Poverty leads to frustration, which leads to anger, which leads to violence. Many terrorist attacks are born out of frustration with the rich in society.
We need to cut terrorism of at the source, and try to assist those in poverty to give them a better perspective of our society.
Not to say that all terrorists are born out of poverty, and some are religious fundamentalists. However, a reduction in terror can be only a good thing, can it not?
i dont think poverty really exists as it never became apprent until western civilization came and taught the eastern situation and civilization about it
Enviado por lucyloo_ el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:32am.
I believe that poverty is a serious issue. Maybe we cant iradicate it, but we can all do a little to help. We need to face that there are people less fortunate than us, and everyone deserves atleast the basic needs. There is always something we can do to help.
Enviado por lucyloo_ el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:33am.
I believe that poverty is a serious issue. Maybe we cant iradicate it, but we can all do a little to help. We need to face that there are people less fortunate than us, and everyone deserves atleast the basic needs. There is always something we can do to help.
Enviado por griffin orourke el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:27am.
In reply 2 Myersh
'i dont think poverty really exists as it never became apprent until western civilization came and taught the eastern situation and civilization about it '
What was slavery in Egyptian times then if it wasn't poverty?
That just means you have a fear of strangers not exactly what you may be meaning to say but I understand what you mean. I think college kids looking at fake diplomas should take a glance at the poverty levels then second guess their choices on education.
Seriously, I feel that poverty is something that should and can be eliminated, but I don't believe that it will be in our lifetimes, because there are too many people who are making money out of the poorer countries predicament. Poverty is one of the few things that have stayed as a constant throughout history, and I do not beleive that we can change something as permenent as this in a few decades, especially as there are more pressing issues that will afect all of us, such as Global Warming. While this is more of an equal to global poverty, because climate change affects rich as well as poor, it's given more priority.
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
so far in ToK, and our other lessons we have discussed the causes of poverty, the definitions and measurements used by society to ascertain the true nature and depth of poverty but also possible solutions to the problem....
our group has a varitey of ideas including a global tax in a percantage of our wage going towards those that need it.....
comments from our IB group:
"poverty of the mind" - Simran
"poverty doesnt affect me so why bother?"- Jack S.
"poverty is relative"- Jenny
"fix the foundation not the paint"- AMIE!!!!!
"it wont get sorted but we should still try!!!!"- JODIE!!!!
Enviado por DaBrapster el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:32am.
Lol, I might seem a bit harsh but its a well known fact that Im more concerned about problems I can affect and that have solutions rather than this pathetic attempt by the western world to justify all the 'sins' they have committed over the last 100 years, and once again religion is the base of these problems, if people didnt feel a moral obligation to repent for their sins the ridiculous fallacy that is poverty would no longer darken my doorstep and try to cast a shadow over my otherwise happy life.
So Bob, take it elsewhere.
I think that to eradicate world poverty would be too big a task due to the extent of the problem and partly due to the ignorance of a huge majority in the first world countries. However, those that feel they have a moral obligation to fight poverty, can make a difference and can help the problem. I feel that we not only need to give financial aid, but also be practical in our approach to helping those in poverty.
I think that we can take alot from this quote from CAFOD:
"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life"
Obviously, this can apply to other issues and not just for food. We can educate those in third world countries about the importance of contraception. If this message was put across effectively, then there would be a reduced birth rate amongst those in poverty and therefore less children would be born into it, which only makes the situation worse.
this is amie in response to griff- stuff about tyranical regimes
its absolutely a problem and thats where my amaazing quote, "fix the foundation not the paint" comes in- you have to sort the entire country, government included, to ensure that cash gained from charity, donations etc get to the people that need it... but is it right to intrude so much into another culture??
yes it may be a tyranical regime- but we've never managed to help anyone... yes griff remember iraq indeed
Enviado por elinlewis el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:40am.
In ToK, and all our other lessons, we discussed poverty and the potential solutions.Poverty isn't easy to define. It involves a lack of clean water, proper sanitation, shelter, jobs, education, food, money, medical care and access to emergency services. It may also include access to equality, a justice system and freedom. We can measure it by social inclusion, income, early school leaving, life expectancy, levels of deprivation and jobless households. But some of these can be difficult to measure and/or compare.Poverty is clearly a relative term It does not exist in its own right, only relative to wealth. For that reason 'poverty' can never be eradicated in the world, unless we all lived in communist states. However, this has been proven not to work on many levels. Some would also argue that if you are not free, you are poor - and if we do not live in a democracy this is something we wouldn't have access to. Instead, then, we continue to live in a world where as wealth increases, the bar signifying poverty rises with it.While poverty can never be eradicated unless we all live in perfect equality, I believe extreme poverty can be. That is, having enough proper food, clean water, proper sanitation and housing, access to medical aid and prescription drugs and proper education for all children. I also believe we have a moral obligation to do this. And that the state of poverty that constitutes destitution can and should be eradicated, everywhere, for good, and the world has the abilities and facilities to do this.In a developed world obsessed with capitalism and consumerism, we seem to have forgotten that the lives of fellow human beings should be more important than an endless stream of material goods, which should come second to the lives of others. There is so much ignorance in the world that we have either forgotten, do not understand, or simply know but are too selfish to care. And something has to be done about it.One of the things we discussed in ToK was to idea of imposing a global tax for everybody above the poverty line, to help those beneath it; those most in need. Not only do these countries and people need money, however, they also need skills. They need to be taught to create a sustainable lifestyle for themselves so that, in time, they can also help themselves out of poverty. Skills and time must be given, rather than just money. We must not only give what we have, but who we are.I think so much of the lack of care comes from ignorance and lack of proper moral values. Children in all countries should be taught about poverty and the surrounding issues from a young age, like we are on the IB. This is one of the reasons I am enjoying the IB course – I think it broadens our minds and makes us more aware of the issues outside of our own tiny, introverted worlds and I believe that that is vital if things are to change.
Erm, poverty is bad. It's difficult to define exactly what it is. There are people starving to death, being killed in wars and natural disasters and tramps on the streets (mostly in Dav(by Stevie)) mothers who can't affiord to feed their kids, old people who can't afford to heat their homes. All these things can be made better. I believe we can help if we all tried.
Enviado por Jennilicious el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:41am.
I think not only do we have a moral obligation to help people in poverty because we are better off than them, but we in the west are often the CAUSE of poverty.
People are happy in their own soceity blahblah, well how can you say that about people who are forced to work in sugar cane plantations in awful conditions with bad wages etc. so YOU can eat sugar.
I dont think we should send money to countries in need because the money will not get to the ACTUAL needs of the country it will go to the man sitting up top.
i feel we may have an obligation to support but hey ho
Enviado por KellyBrap el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:43am.
I have little opinion on the subject. It's not that I don't care, I'ts just that I am a cynical person anyway. Most of my opinions (on all types of subjects) are either too bad to say or highly arguable. And tbh, I don't want to argue with people over something as miniscule as my opinion.
All I think is that poverty is relative and eternal. It is natural, however, I do believe that it is exacerbated by the greed of the rich and powerful.
The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. That's not right. (But that's the way it is) and this should be changed.
You can't print more money because it would cause inflation and so on (anyone who was done Nazi Germany will/should know this). Please, when it comes to politics, geography, poverty, english or pretty much anything apart from french, DON'T ASK JODIE!!!!
To quote amie "For the love of god"
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Enviado por chris.purnell el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:46am.
Okay poverty . . this will inevitably become nothing less than a rant on my personal thoughts . . and ultimately worthless in the grand scheme of life, the universe and everything.
First and foremost, the issue of poverty we have tackled in every lesson has not been as boring or uninteresting as i first assumed it would be, instead i found it to enrich the lessons by providing background to topics already being considered, it has also encouraged me to look beyond what we are doing here.
Studying the IB at warwickshire college is my second attempt at college, having decided that the first attempt was not what i wanted to do with myself, i left sheriff hating the year that i had spent there and looking forward to the the next two i would spend here. Since that time we as a group have spent many hours considering the theme of global poverty and i have considerably changed my attitude towards the year i spent at sheriff, i still feel that the school was a complete waste of time for me, but i appreciate it much more than i did before considering that i have had the opportunity to go to college not once but twice.
I have also been spurred by these lessons in to thinking about the ways in which poverty can be tackled and i dont think that it is possible for poverty to be erradicated. For a problem to be removed all of the parties involved with trying to remove it must agree what the problem is and work together to remove it, if something goes wrong on a routine flight then both the pilot and the co pilot must agree on the problem before it can be resolved, if both dissagree and try to resolve it in their own way then the problem will worsen. The leading countries in the world that have joined the trend of caring for the world do not agree on the problem and simply donate money. To a country that is not influenced, based on or run by money, this is worthless.
From this we discussed in TOK, what is poverty, and this is a question that my above arguement raises, what if poverty? we cannot answer this question as an IB group, and the given definition is very vague. If we do not know what poverty is . . then how is it meant to be fought? Personally i feel that simply throwing money at the worlds poverty is not going to help, it requires businesses to start in these countries, nothing specialist or even to be sold in that country, if factories are moved to an african country then it provides jobs for the people in that country, this provides money for the people to spend, from this a chain starts to develop, businesses can open that allow this money to be spent on clothes or food, education opportunities open as people can be trained to teach and pay for school to be run, this educated class can open businesses of their own and the country can pull itself out of poverty by creating a self running economy that runs on the basis of that country and not what we countries in the west run on. This is a very general idea, i do not pretend to know the economics of beginning an economy and could not predict fluctuations or downturns in this economy, i am simply highlighting that donating money does not appear to work and for a country to become independant it needs to run by itself, as if it does this by using donated money, it will require donated money to continue to run in this way.
As for moral obligation, i think the discussion on this highlighted some of the rather worse sides of human opinion in the form of people who feel we shouldnt help because it does not affect us, if one was walking down the street and saw a blind woman trying to cross a busy street, one would stop to help . . this woman needs help, she is less fortunate and cannot help herself. What is the difference between this and helping poverty in a country such as Africa? Simply because we dont see these people starving doesnt mean they dont exist, helping poverty has almost become a cliché with the increasing trend of 'helping people is cool', does this mean that we shouldnt help? simply because everyone is doing so?
In countries where national pride is very strong, such as in America and Russia, if you mention any topic of national importance, such as war, or the economic downturn they rally around each other and support each other because they all represent and feel that they belong to this one country. Why should this not be the case for international countries? we are all human, we all occupy the earth, in years to come when man eventually reaches for the starts countries will no longer be important, we will just all represent the planet earth . . do we really have to wait for that to happen before we start considering these people the same as us? What has to happen before we are ready to admit that these people are exactly the same as us and require our help?
Poverty is not just confined to Africa, it is estimated that 20, 000 elderly people will die in the UK this winter because they cannot afford to heat their home? this statistic is horrific, we live in the united kingdom! our history tells us that this is a free and safe land, where we look after each other, we protect each other, and are prepared to give our lives to keep it safe. This is not always as glorious as war, it is sometimes not even recognised, the three young boys i met several weeks ago who watched their mother die very painfully to cancer several years ago helping out their dad as he prepares to remarry. This is not glorious, or newsworthy, but it is that fighting spirit that makes us who we are as a nation, yet 20, 000 of our own are going to die in the coming months. This poses a further two questions, Why in our nation is there nothing being done to stop this? it is more than possible for our government to help us resolve this, and as individuals we can help each with this problem . . giving up one weekend to help my grandad insulate his loft two weeks ago took nothing from me and will take nothing from the millions who could potentially do this and save these lives, so why is it not being done? my second question is that, we say that africa is in poverty and that they need to be more like 'us' . . do we want africa to be like us when we are not as perfect as we like to believe we are? when people are at risk of death to the cold, that to me qualifies as poverty. Considering this, are we really that different to Africa? i think its safe to say that we have striking similarities, yet this still does not inspire us to help more than we are.
I have no overall point to this, these are just points i have been considering over the last few weeks. I think we need to do more as a nation and as a global community, we need to work more together rather than inidividually, and if we work together to fully understand a problem, well . . once everyone is on the same page you can begin writing . .
and of course the inside of a fire extinguisher isnt flammable . . .
the poverty we discussed in... environment.... the importance of education in tackling poverty and how it is valued in more poverty stricken areas than the UK. these people walk for miles to get to school, or study at night after working since dawn , or travelling through cities torn apart by civil war and gang violence... they know its the only way for them to get out of poverty- and even then its only a small opportunity that they have to fight for ...... and yet we moan about school???
we need to shut up about our own problems and look at whats around us!!! ok
In our TOK lesson today we discussed the meaning of poverty, who it affects, how it is caused and any possible solutions. We first looked at the geographical split between the rich and poor areas of the world by means of the Brandt Line. This shows that around 25% of the world's population owns 75% of the world's riches, known as the MEDC'S (more economically developed country), whilst 75% of the world's population only own 25% of the world's riches known as the LEDC's (lower economically developed country). Whilst this is only on estimate, it clearly represents the unfair distribution of wealth across the world: with wealth deriving from a world currency. This led us to question why there is such an inequality in the world; what triggered Africa for instance, to become less developed and technologically advanced than Britain? A huge difference that we noted first was the climate. Poverty could be derived from the environment we live in. Britain's environmental conditions allow cultivation of resources, which therefore would lead to a faster development of the technology needed for the adaptations to our surroundings. However, we then decided whether the necessities for our surroundings and environment matched the necessities for those living in Africa. Perhaps Africa is just as developed as Britain, but the adaptations are completely different. This made us wonder whether it is the MEDC's society being forced upon the LEDC's that is causing poverty. All these cash injections that we are giving, are in our eyes helping greatly, yet is totally worthless to a country like Africa as money only allows our society to run. This brought me to think of a group that have been excluded from 'civilisation,’ and I immediately thought of the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest. They live very much independently from the rest of the world, in sustainable existence. Whilst they do not have any access to a doctor, they have great knowledge of medicinal plants from the rainforest. Yet if they were to be introduced to our society, they would be classed as in poverty, as they have no income to survive by. Therefore, we questioned whether it is a ‘human hunger’ to advance and develop, and that poverty is becoming a deficit of this, and that if we were to eradicate poverty and this given time, as we continue to develop further, poverty will again appear. But is this an excuse to be ignorant of poverty? Yet we then realised how narrow-minded we had been as a group, with all of us jut presuming that poverty is linked to the income earned by a person. Poverty, or being in poverty, could be defined as where a person does not have access to something. This could be a doctor, fair representation etc. This brought us to discuss whether you could have a poverty of the mind, and whether money allows access to everything. I discussed whether a person who was so rich he could by anything materialistic, and yet was alone and deeply depressed would be more or less in poverty than somebody who has enough to support their family, and yet is always in company and very content and happy. Is a poverty of the mind worse than poverty of belongings? Then, I wondered whether poverty could ever be a good thing. Whilst this is a very controversial idea, it could be suggested that Western cultures need LEDC’s to be in poverty in order for them to survive. If we take into consideration the idea that at present we are being warned about the amount of fuel that we are consuming, and that in fifty years fuel resources would run dry, if countries like Africa was developed identically to Britain or America, and were also consuming the amount of fuel as we are, by now there would be no resources left to sustain everybody. This suggests to me, as has already been recognised, that the lifestyle we are living is unacceptable and that alternatives need to be found if we are going to survive (but this is a different topic). As well as this, I came up with another idea. We discussed that poverty could be about not having the opportunity or access to do something. Therefore, a person in prison could be considered to have a lack of freedom. Yet it was through their own choice (in most cases) to break the law, which led them to have opportunities taken away. But then you could argue that the law in the first place is restricting you from doing something, which is generally for the good of others, so could poverty (through law) be classed as a good thing?
I do not believe that poverty will ever be eradicated completely. If we take poverty as just earning less than the poverty line, I believe the world has potential, if organised properly, to deal with poverty. However, it will be a long time before any movement on such a scale can be put forward. The lyrics from “Bare necessities” springs to mind if we are to take up a condition for ourselves that could stop the poverty of others. “When you find out you can live without it, And go along not thinkin' about it, I'll tell you something true, The bare necessities of life will come to you.” If we were able to adopt this idea, and that everybody felt compelled to reduce all the materialistic things that they don’t need, then poverty may indeed be eradicated.
I think that poverty isa really unfortunate circumstance to li9ve in and i don't think that its fair for some people to live i poverty although they have worked really hard.
We discussed in TOK how poverty can be eradicated and i must say that i was saddened by the :( way people think and how ignorant they were in thinking that just because they were not born in poverty or live in poverty, they don't have to deal with it. But i believe it is a moral obligation to help people living in absolute poverty if you have the means to help them. I also think that if all of us decided to tackle this problem responsible for so many sufferings and death of innocent people, we will make a big difference to the world, but realistically, this seems impossible so i think that if we just follow what we think and follow our moral obligation of helping peple it might be a small change compared to the problem but it might be all we need to make a big difference in someone's life. We came up with an idea where the we could tax like everyone in the world earning a certain amount of money to give away a certain % of their income, which i think can eradicate poverty and do even more but there is a problem of everyone not agreeing to this idea.
In psychology, we talked about relative poverty and how people can happily live in their own conditions, but if they see another culture who are richer than they are, they start comparing themselves to them and this can lead to people becoming greedy and start to realise how poor they are because they cannot afford to have what their neighbours have or it might just because they what to have and not need which i think is not an extreme case of poverty where they are negatively affected by it as in absolute poverty.
We also discussed education in environmental science and how some people are really privileged that education is a necessity for them but in other places like africa, education is a privilege and not everyone has a right to be educated and some people actually have top work really hard just to get basic education or they have to give up or sacrifice something important from their life just to get a little bit of education which some people in the west take for granted.
Some people have a notion that people who live in poverty are lazy, but this is not the case as they have to work really hard all day just to get one meal and kids have to give up their life to experience being young and free because they have a burden to take care of their family and other kids are not even as lucky to say that they have parents which i think is really unfortunate.
In conclusion, i do think that we can all stop poverty if we do something about, but i accept that everyone has diferent views and thoughts on what to do about it. But i still think that if you think you should do something about it then you should and make your contribution to make the world a better place. But if you are stingy and selfish then boo on you! But i still hope you can change how you think about life.
In a recent play, Zero, an Ethiopian character held in a terrorist camp told his story to the play’s protagonist. He had owned a successful garage, which was helping him to live his life in a relatively comfortable way. Then a big car company moved into his town – he tried to convince his customers, mainly diplomats, that he could fix a car just as well as the big business could. They laughed at him, they took their cars to the international company, and his business went down, and he began to struggle and his anger began to rise.
He went home, and bought plastic explosives from the internet – he said he felt powerful by having them, better than the big business.
One day, struggling to pay his bills and stay afloat, a diplomat bought his car back to his garage, because the big garage was too busy. The man put plastic explosives beneath his car and killed him.
This story, fictional though it was, epitomises the way in which globalisation and western culture is causing global poverty, and terrorism. We can safely say that, had this western corporation not come to his city, his business would continue to thrive.
He became frustrated, then angry, and then his anger towards the business, and ultimately the rich and more successful, turned him to violence.
We can probably say that people in poverty look upon our lifestyle, perhaps with envy. They hear of how much water we have, and wonder why we can’t spare a glass. They hear of how we throw food away, and wonder why we can’t spare some of it.
If we empathise with these people, and see it from their perspective, it is interesting to see what they may think of us. Maybe they think we’re selfish, lazy, or inconsiderate. And frustration leads to anger, which leads to violence.
The combined wealth of the richest 500 individuals is equal to that of the poorest 400 million, approximately. Surely there is some sense of injustice here? Does anyone truly need that much money? Even Bill Gates himself has the combined wealth of 13 African countries.
If sparing a few quid will help these people out and stop them wanting to kill me, then that’s a small price to pay. When, in some instances, Western society is the cause of the problem, we should feel some obligation to right our wrongs.
Yes, terrorism is caused for a variety of reasons, the anger of the impoverished being only one of them. Religious fundamentalism, political ploy, etc. But a reduction in terrorism can only be a good thing.
we should help those people have better standard of life but not pump money into their economy. MONEY IS NOT THE ANSWER.... IT IS THE PROBLEM.
maybe we should take all the money away from everyone everywhere are just give everything out to people evenly...
(i know that is unlikely but maybe it would work...id give it a go)
i work in sainsburys and we get loads of homeless and poor people in. we have one regular who comes in and spends all the coins he can scrape together on the cheapest booze in the shop. i think this is an argument for not just handing out money to individuals, but giving it to governments n stuff to sort it out.
Enviado por the_geege el Lun, 10/11/2008 - 11:56am.
"Half of humanity lives on less than 2 dollars a day" (Earth from the Air) Poverty is a major issue in the globe. How do we define it and should we and how do we solve it? Most people define poverty by comparing different social groups, countries and other catergories. This is relative. Often relative is subjective and to do with opinions not material or physical wealth. This can also be stereotypical. Another way of defining poverty is by absoulute measures (material wealth or a poverty line.) This is a physical measure. In one way this is better than relative as it not judged by opinions but material wealth is not the only thing that makes people impoverished. Other things are food, education, health systems, water etc. The Relative measure is useful when trying to find the best place or group to use your resources efficiently to improve peoples lives.
"826 million people are under-nourished in the world" (Earth Form the Air)
Generally we should help out the poor because it is unfair that we should be rich and live more than comfortably but the poor don't. However this is a opinion which is a problem. following on from this I believe we in the rich west have a moral obligation to help the poor because ultimately we are causing the poverty. For a start we allow companies like GAP and Primark to pay their labourers in Bangladesh and other countries very small amounts of money for extremely hard work. They are treated very badly too. The people haven’t got any unions and can’t create any or they will be fired. They have no choice or chance to improve their lives because the western companies want to have massive profits. Another case of big companies taking advantage of poor people was the Nestle case with milk for children in Africa. You probably have heard about it. We in the west live of the backs of the poor. This is unfair. Poverty can also cause terrorism (see Simran’s comment)
“People in rich countries, a mere 20% of the total human population, eat 45% of meat and fish consumed throughout the world” (Earth From the Air)
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Poverty = epic
Poverty = epic fail
By Jack...
Poverty = epic fail
Poverty = epic fail
I don't believe we have a
I don't believe we have a moral obligation to help anyone outside our own country because, frankly, it's not our business to interfere in other people's affairs. Anyone remember Iraq?
Nah though, yes obv its a
Nah though, yes obv its a bit rubbish for them but I mean I cant really do anything and neither can you or anyone else so yeah, just forget about it and enjoy your lives (Y)
-Jack
I think poverty is a big
I think poverty is a big problem, uncurable though
-Jack
i think the iraq situation
i think the iraq situation is dire but we are unable to effect anything as england and the US are in dire debt,
we should not run to war because we want their oil inheritance
HAMSTERRRRR
also known as,
Hamish Roberto Williamo Myers.
I think poverty is
I think poverty is obviously an awful thing but i do not beleive that you can iradicate it, because if you get to a certain standard where everyone one has the basic essentials of life such as shelter, food, water etc.. but once we then get to that stage people being normal human beings will always want someting better than the next country. As a result it will all go back to the starting point. But that doesn't go to say that we don't have to help these countrys in poverty. I do think that everyone should participate in helping poverty even though we probably will never be able to stop it completely. I do strongly beleive that we (charities etc..) should be able to give our money raised to the people in difficulties themselves because most of their goverments are corrupt anyway and will most likley spend the money wastefully or on themselves. This is why we see some of the most richest people in the world in Africa living only a few miles away from people in extreme poverty situations. All of what i've said has mainly been based on Africa and countries like that because that is what first springs to mind but of course we shouldn't froget the people in poverty in our own countries like the elderly who cant afford their heating bills or to buy enough food to feed themselves, aswll as children carers in poverty not having enough money to care for themselves aswell as a sick or disabled relative.
Our many disscussions in probably every single lesson were very interessting because we got to hear everybody's view point on poverty, because as we know everybody has their different view points on such things as this.
We mainly disscussed what we thought poverty was and what it meant to us, and the main answer was that poverty is a lack of essentials and money of course. We did some posters about how poverty effects the mid in Psychology and how poverty is all very relative depending on where and when you are from.
In English we analysed two poems about the difference between rich and poor in the same societey and how they live side by side but choose to ignore each other really as they have done for a long time. And of course we thought of what poverty was and how it affected us etc...
In Maths we saw poverty through a money point of view with help from the World Bank and their statistics. This showed that different countries have different perceptions of money for example $1 could mean a whole years wage to someone else in the world. We also saw that a lot of countries that are"stereotyped" as being poor are actually not and vice verser. It's really quite surprising to see that so many countries can live of less than $1 a day!
And of course in TOK we debated about our different views of poverty and disscussed weather we could irradicate poverty or not, and if there ever was an end to it all. We also came up with some solutions to extreme poverty such as world poverty tax, where we could tax a percentage of the world and give the money raised to the countries in poverty.
That's it really. X
you are not interfering in
you are not interfering in their lives, iraq was a war , you are just giving aid and i think its better to give away money you don't need than hug it to yourself and die leaving it wasting away
Lets not be silly children
Lets not be silly children and STOP POSTING STUPID COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Umm, I suppose I should
Umm, I suppose I should talk about poverty instead of fore extinguishers! Sigh! Um, I think we should round up all the billionaires and shoot them, all, and then we can give their money to all the really poor african people. Only, then they will become corrupt african billionaires, and but nuclear weapons, and kill us all! Aah! End of the world!!!!
Bye everyone!
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Amie and Jodie
Amie and Jodie think...
Although we will never be able to truly erradicate poverty and we may not make a difference individually, we believe that we do have a moral obligation to try and help others that dont have the things that we take for granted.
love to all, xx
Griffin, are you feeling
Griffin, are you feeling stressed?!
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Amie, this is your real
Amie, this is your real opinion, or just Jodie's. "IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
"I don't believe we have a
"I don't believe we have a moral obligation to help anyone outside our own country because, frankly, it's not our business to interfere in other people's affairs. Anyone remember Iraq?"
Although I agree with not interfering with other people's affairs using military action, I think assistance with poverty is a completely different thing.
Poverty leads to frustration, which leads to anger, which leads to violence. Many terrorist attacks are born out of frustration with the rich in society.
We need to cut terrorism of at the source, and try to assist those in poverty to give them a better perspective of our society.
Not to say that all terrorists are born out of poverty, and some are religious fundamentalists. However, a reduction in terror can be only a good thing, can it not?
Simran
i dont think poverty really
i dont think poverty really exists as it never became apprent until western civilization came and taught the eastern situation and civilization about it
Was Iraq based onterrorism
Was Iraq based onterrorism grounds, though?
It certainly wasn't based on WMD's!
I believe that poverty is a
I believe that poverty is a serious issue. Maybe we cant iradicate it, but we can all do a little to help. We need to face that there are people less fortunate than us, and everyone deserves atleast the basic needs. There is always something we can do to help.
Lucy
I believe that poverty is a
I believe that poverty is a serious issue. Maybe we cant iradicate it, but we can all do a little to help. We need to face that there are people less fortunate than us, and everyone deserves atleast the basic needs. There is always something we can do to help.
Lucy
Indeed, but the point I'm
Indeed, but the point I'm maing is that military action and assisting those in poverty are completely different.
The Iraq war was certainly based on oil - on taking rather than giving.
In reply 2 Myersh 'i
In reply 2 Myersh
'i dont think poverty really exists as it never became apprent until western civilization came and taught the eastern situation and civilization about it '
What was slavery in Egyptian times then if it wasn't poverty?
Hav u seen v
Hav u seen v time..................ITS TOK O'CLOCK!!!!!!!
Is it xenophobic 2 say i
Is it xenophobic 2 say i don't care about anyone's poverty apart from english people?
Oh well, i don't care!
That just means you have a
That just means you have a fear of strangers not exactly what you may be meaning to say but I understand what you mean. I think college kids looking at fake diplomas should take a glance at the poverty levels then second guess their choices on education.
Seriously, I feel that
Seriously, I feel that poverty is something that should and can be eliminated, but I don't believe that it will be in our lifetimes, because there are too many people who are making money out of the poorer countries predicament. Poverty is one of the few things that have stayed as a constant throughout history, and I do not beleive that we can change something as permenent as this in a few decades, especially as there are more pressing issues that will afect all of us, such as Global Warming. While this is more of an equal to global poverty, because climate change affects rich as well as poor, it's given more priority.
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Simran- The Iraq war was
Simran-
The Iraq war was certainly based on oil - on taking rather than giving.
Cynical, eh?
ok we are actually gonna
ok we are actually gonna make real comments....
so far in ToK, and our other lessons we have discussed the causes of poverty, the definitions and measurements used by society to ascertain the true nature and depth of poverty but also possible solutions to the problem....
our group has a varitey of ideas including a global tax in a percantage of our wage going towards those that need it.....
comments from our IB group:
"poverty of the mind" - Simran
"poverty doesnt affect me so why bother?"- Jack S.
"poverty is relative"- Jenny
"fix the foundation not the paint"- AMIE!!!!!
"it wont get sorted but we should still try!!!!"- JODIE!!!!
Lol, I might seem a bit
Lol, I might seem a bit harsh but its a well known fact that Im more concerned about problems I can affect and that have solutions rather than this pathetic attempt by the western world to justify all the 'sins' they have committed over the last 100 years, and once again religion is the base of these problems, if people didnt feel a moral obligation to repent for their sins the ridiculous fallacy that is poverty would no longer darken my doorstep and try to cast a shadow over my otherwise happy life.
So Bob, take it elsewhere.
comment deleted.
comment deleted.
I think that to eradicate
I think that to eradicate world poverty would be too big a task due to the extent of the problem and partly due to the ignorance of a huge majority in the first world countries. However, those that feel they have a moral obligation to fight poverty, can make a difference and can help the problem. I feel that we not only need to give financial aid, but also be practical in our approach to helping those in poverty.
I think that we can take alot from this quote from CAFOD:
"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life"
Obviously, this can apply to other issues and not just for food. We can educate those in third world countries about the importance of contraception. If this message was put across effectively, then there would be a reduced birth rate amongst those in poverty and therefore less children would be born into it, which only makes the situation worse.
Peace (Y)
John hatzakis =]
THE
THE SOLUTION:
"sell everything to america and use the money to give to the third world"
it's simple really
What can b done to stop
What can b done to stop global poverty in countries with tyranical regimes.
Look at the DRC, u can't send in aid, money, the red cross or even troops!
But then it is africa
!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Is it xenophobic 2 say i don't care about anyone's poverty apart from english people?
Oh well, i don't care!)
this is amie in response to
this is amie in response to griff- stuff about tyranical regimes
its absolutely a problem and thats where my amaazing quote, "fix the foundation not the paint" comes in- you have to sort the entire country, government included, to ensure that cash gained from charity, donations etc get to the people that need it... but is it right to intrude so much into another culture??
yes it may be a tyranical regime- but we've never managed to help anyone... yes griff remember iraq indeed
In ToK, and all our other
In ToK, and all our other lessons, we discussed poverty and the potential solutions.Poverty isn't easy to define. It involves a lack of clean water, proper sanitation, shelter, jobs, education, food, money, medical care and access to emergency services. It may also include access to equality, a justice system and freedom. We can measure it by social inclusion, income, early school leaving, life expectancy, levels of deprivation and jobless households. But some of these can be difficult to measure and/or compare.Poverty is clearly a relative term It does not exist in its own right, only relative to wealth. For that reason 'poverty' can never be eradicated in the world, unless we all lived in communist states. However, this has been proven not to work on many levels. Some would also argue that if you are not free, you are poor - and if we do not live in a democracy this is something we wouldn't have access to. Instead, then, we continue to live in a world where as wealth increases, the bar signifying poverty rises with it.While poverty can never be eradicated unless we all live in perfect equality, I believe extreme poverty can be. That is, having enough proper food, clean water, proper sanitation and housing, access to medical aid and prescription drugs and proper education for all children. I also believe we have a moral obligation to do this. And that the state of poverty that constitutes destitution can and should be eradicated, everywhere, for good, and the world has the abilities and facilities to do this.In a developed world obsessed with capitalism and consumerism, we seem to have forgotten that the lives of fellow human beings should be more important than an endless stream of material goods, which should come second to the lives of others. There is so much ignorance in the world that we have either forgotten, do not understand, or simply know but are too selfish to care. And something has to be done about it.One of the things we discussed in ToK was to idea of imposing a global tax for everybody above the poverty line, to help those beneath it; those most in need. Not only do these countries and people need money, however, they also need skills. They need to be taught to create a sustainable lifestyle for themselves so that, in time, they can also help themselves out of poverty. Skills and time must be given, rather than just money. We must not only give what we have, but who we are.I think so much of the lack of care comes from ignorance and lack of proper moral values. Children in all countries should be taught about poverty and the surrounding issues from a young age, like we are on the IB. This is one of the reasons I am enjoying the IB course – I think it broadens our minds and makes us more aware of the issues outside of our own tiny, introverted worlds and I believe that that is vital if things are to change.
i'd like to quote a great
i'd like to quote a great jodie-ism:
"why dont we just print more money and give it to them?"
Posted by
Posted by Jazz.
Erm, poverty is bad. It's difficult to define exactly what it is. There are people starving to death, being killed in wars and natural disasters and tramps on the streets (mostly in Dav(by Stevie)) mothers who can't affiord to feed their kids, old people who can't afford to heat their homes. All these things can be made better. I believe we can help if we all tried.
I think not only do we have
I think not only do we have a moral obligation to help people in poverty because we are better off than them, but we in the west are often the CAUSE of poverty.
People are happy in their own soceity blahblah, well how can you say that about people who are forced to work in sugar cane plantations in awful conditions with bad wages etc. so YOU can eat sugar.
solution? no more sweeties.
I dont think we should send
I dont think we should send money to countries in need because the money will not get to the ACTUAL needs of the country it will go to the man sitting up top.
i feel we may have an obligation to support but hey ho
lets go
'all in all its just another brick in the wall'
I have little opinion on
I have little opinion on the subject. It's not that I don't care, I'ts just that I am a cynical person anyway. Most of my opinions (on all types of subjects) are either too bad to say or highly arguable. And tbh, I don't want to argue with people over something as miniscule as my opinion.
All I think is that poverty is relative and eternal. It is natural, however, I do believe that it is exacerbated by the greed of the rich and powerful.
The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. That's not right. (But that's the way it is) and this should be changed.
x
To Jack (with the
To Jack (with the hat)
You can't print more money because it would cause inflation and so on (anyone who was done Nazi Germany will/should know this). Please, when it comes to politics, geography, poverty, english or pretty much anything apart from french, DON'T ASK JODIE!!!!
To quote amie "For the love of god"
"IS THE STUFF INSIDE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FLAMMABLE?" :)
Okay poverty . . this will
Okay poverty . . this will inevitably become nothing less than a rant on my personal thoughts . . and ultimately worthless in the grand scheme of life, the universe and everything.
First and foremost, the issue of poverty we have tackled in every lesson has not been as boring or uninteresting as i first assumed it would be, instead i found it to enrich the lessons by providing background to topics already being considered, it has also encouraged me to look beyond what we are doing here.
Studying the IB at warwickshire college is my second attempt at college, having decided that the first attempt was not what i wanted to do with myself, i left sheriff hating the year that i had spent there and looking forward to the the next two i would spend here. Since that time we as a group have spent many hours considering the theme of global poverty and i have considerably changed my attitude towards the year i spent at sheriff, i still feel that the school was a complete waste of time for me, but i appreciate it much more than i did before considering that i have had the opportunity to go to college not once but twice.
I have also been spurred by these lessons in to thinking about the ways in which poverty can be tackled and i dont think that it is possible for poverty to be erradicated. For a problem to be removed all of the parties involved with trying to remove it must agree what the problem is and work together to remove it, if something goes wrong on a routine flight then both the pilot and the co pilot must agree on the problem before it can be resolved, if both dissagree and try to resolve it in their own way then the problem will worsen. The leading countries in the world that have joined the trend of caring for the world do not agree on the problem and simply donate money. To a country that is not influenced, based on or run by money, this is worthless.
From this we discussed in TOK, what is poverty, and this is a question that my above arguement raises, what if poverty? we cannot answer this question as an IB group, and the given definition is very vague. If we do not know what poverty is . . then how is it meant to be fought? Personally i feel that simply throwing money at the worlds poverty is not going to help, it requires businesses to start in these countries, nothing specialist or even to be sold in that country, if factories are moved to an african country then it provides jobs for the people in that country, this provides money for the people to spend, from this a chain starts to develop, businesses can open that allow this money to be spent on clothes or food, education opportunities open as people can be trained to teach and pay for school to be run, this educated class can open businesses of their own and the country can pull itself out of poverty by creating a self running economy that runs on the basis of that country and not what we countries in the west run on. This is a very general idea, i do not pretend to know the economics of beginning an economy and could not predict fluctuations or downturns in this economy, i am simply highlighting that donating money does not appear to work and for a country to become independant it needs to run by itself, as if it does this by using donated money, it will require donated money to continue to run in this way.
As for moral obligation, i think the discussion on this highlighted some of the rather worse sides of human opinion in the form of people who feel we shouldnt help because it does not affect us, if one was walking down the street and saw a blind woman trying to cross a busy street, one would stop to help . . this woman needs help, she is less fortunate and cannot help herself. What is the difference between this and helping poverty in a country such as Africa? Simply because we dont see these people starving doesnt mean they dont exist, helping poverty has almost become a cliché with the increasing trend of 'helping people is cool', does this mean that we shouldnt help? simply because everyone is doing so?
In countries where national pride is very strong, such as in America and Russia, if you mention any topic of national importance, such as war, or the economic downturn they rally around each other and support each other because they all represent and feel that they belong to this one country. Why should this not be the case for international countries? we are all human, we all occupy the earth, in years to come when man eventually reaches for the starts countries will no longer be important, we will just all represent the planet earth . . do we really have to wait for that to happen before we start considering these people the same as us? What has to happen before we are ready to admit that these people are exactly the same as us and require our help?
Poverty is not just confined to Africa, it is estimated that 20, 000 elderly people will die in the UK this winter because they cannot afford to heat their home? this statistic is horrific, we live in the united kingdom! our history tells us that this is a free and safe land, where we look after each other, we protect each other, and are prepared to give our lives to keep it safe. This is not always as glorious as war, it is sometimes not even recognised, the three young boys i met several weeks ago who watched their mother die very painfully to cancer several years ago helping out their dad as he prepares to remarry. This is not glorious, or newsworthy, but it is that fighting spirit that makes us who we are as a nation, yet 20, 000 of our own are going to die in the coming months. This poses a further two questions, Why in our nation is there nothing being done to stop this? it is more than possible for our government to help us resolve this, and as individuals we can help each with this problem . . giving up one weekend to help my grandad insulate his loft two weeks ago took nothing from me and will take nothing from the millions who could potentially do this and save these lives, so why is it not being done? my second question is that, we say that africa is in poverty and that they need to be more like 'us' . . do we want africa to be like us when we are not as perfect as we like to believe we are? when people are at risk of death to the cold, that to me qualifies as poverty. Considering this, are we really that different to Africa? i think its safe to say that we have striking similarities, yet this still does not inspire us to help more than we are.
I have no overall point to this, these are just points i have been considering over the last few weeks. I think we need to do more as a nation and as a global community, we need to work more together rather than inidividually, and if we work together to fully understand a problem, well . . once everyone is on the same page you can begin writing . .
and of course the inside of a fire extinguisher isnt flammable . . .
xx
the poverty we discussed
the poverty we discussed in... environment.... the importance of education in tackling poverty and how it is valued in more poverty stricken areas than the UK. these people walk for miles to get to school, or study at night after working since dawn , or travelling through cities torn apart by civil war and gang violence... they know its the only way for them to get out of poverty- and even then its only a small opportunity that they have to fight for ...... and yet we moan about school???
we need to shut up about our own problems and look at whats around us!!! ok
this rant was brought to you by AMIE
In our TOK lesson today we
In our TOK lesson today we discussed the meaning of poverty, who it affects, how it is caused and any possible solutions. We first looked at the geographical split between the rich and poor areas of the world by means of the Brandt Line. This shows that around 25% of the world's population owns 75% of the world's riches, known as the MEDC'S (more economically developed country), whilst 75% of the world's population only own 25% of the world's riches known as the LEDC's (lower economically developed country). Whilst this is only on estimate, it clearly represents the unfair distribution of wealth across the world: with wealth deriving from a world currency. This led us to question why there is such an inequality in the world; what triggered Africa for instance, to become less developed and technologically advanced than Britain? A huge difference that we noted first was the climate. Poverty could be derived from the environment we live in. Britain's environmental conditions allow cultivation of resources, which therefore would lead to a faster development of the technology needed for the adaptations to our surroundings. However, we then decided whether the necessities for our surroundings and environment matched the necessities for those living in Africa. Perhaps Africa is just as developed as Britain, but the adaptations are completely different. This made us wonder whether it is the MEDC's society being forced upon the LEDC's that is causing poverty. All these cash injections that we are giving, are in our eyes helping greatly, yet is totally worthless to a country like Africa as money only allows our society to run. This brought me to think of a group that have been excluded from 'civilisation,’ and I immediately thought of the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest. They live very much independently from the rest of the world, in sustainable existence. Whilst they do not have any access to a doctor, they have great knowledge of medicinal plants from the rainforest. Yet if they were to be introduced to our society, they would be classed as in poverty, as they have no income to survive by. Therefore, we questioned whether it is a ‘human hunger’ to advance and develop, and that poverty is becoming a deficit of this, and that if we were to eradicate poverty and this given time, as we continue to develop further, poverty will again appear. But is this an excuse to be ignorant of poverty? Yet we then realised how narrow-minded we had been as a group, with all of us jut presuming that poverty is linked to the income earned by a person. Poverty, or being in poverty, could be defined as where a person does not have access to something. This could be a doctor, fair representation etc. This brought us to discuss whether you could have a poverty of the mind, and whether money allows access to everything. I discussed whether a person who was so rich he could by anything materialistic, and yet was alone and deeply depressed would be more or less in poverty than somebody who has enough to support their family, and yet is always in company and very content and happy. Is a poverty of the mind worse than poverty of belongings? Then, I wondered whether poverty could ever be a good thing. Whilst this is a very controversial idea, it could be suggested that Western cultures need LEDC’s to be in poverty in order for them to survive. If we take into consideration the idea that at present we are being warned about the amount of fuel that we are consuming, and that in fifty years fuel resources would run dry, if countries like Africa was developed identically to Britain or America, and were also consuming the amount of fuel as we are, by now there would be no resources left to sustain everybody. This suggests to me, as has already been recognised, that the lifestyle we are living is unacceptable and that alternatives need to be found if we are going to survive (but this is a different topic). As well as this, I came up with another idea. We discussed that poverty could be about not having the opportunity or access to do something. Therefore, a person in prison could be considered to have a lack of freedom. Yet it was through their own choice (in most cases) to break the law, which led them to have opportunities taken away. But then you could argue that the law in the first place is restricting you from doing something, which is generally for the good of others, so could poverty (through law) be classed as a good thing?
I do not believe that poverty will ever be eradicated completely. If we take poverty as just earning less than the poverty line, I believe the world has potential, if organised properly, to deal with poverty. However, it will be a long time before any movement on such a scale can be put forward. The lyrics from “Bare necessities” springs to mind if we are to take up a condition for ourselves that could stop the poverty of others. “When you find out you can live without it, And go along not thinkin' about it, I'll tell you something true, The bare necessities of life will come to you.” If we were able to adopt this idea, and that everybody felt compelled to reduce all the materialistic things that they don’t need, then poverty may indeed be eradicated.
Seb
I think that poverty isa
I think that poverty isa really unfortunate circumstance to li9ve in and i don't think that its fair for some people to live i poverty although they have worked really hard.
We discussed in TOK how poverty can be eradicated and i must say that i was saddened by the :( way people think and how ignorant they were in thinking that just because they were not born in poverty or live in poverty, they don't have to deal with it. But i believe it is a moral obligation to help people living in absolute poverty if you have the means to help them. I also think that if all of us decided to tackle this problem responsible for so many sufferings and death of innocent people, we will make a big difference to the world, but realistically, this seems impossible so i think that if we just follow what we think and follow our moral obligation of helping peple it might be a small change compared to the problem but it might be all we need to make a big difference in someone's life. We came up with an idea where the we could tax like everyone in the world earning a certain amount of money to give away a certain % of their income, which i think can eradicate poverty and do even more but there is a problem of everyone not agreeing to this idea.
In psychology, we talked about relative poverty and how people can happily live in their own conditions, but if they see another culture who are richer than they are, they start comparing themselves to them and this can lead to people becoming greedy and start to realise how poor they are because they cannot afford to have what their neighbours have or it might just because they what to have and not need which i think is not an extreme case of poverty where they are negatively affected by it as in absolute poverty.
We also discussed education in environmental science and how some people are really privileged that education is a necessity for them but in other places like africa, education is a privilege and not everyone has a right to be educated and some people actually have top work really hard just to get basic education or they have to give up or sacrifice something important from their life just to get a little bit of education which some people in the west take for granted.
Some people have a notion that people who live in poverty are lazy, but this is not the case as they have to work really hard all day just to get one meal and kids have to give up their life to experience being young and free because they have a burden to take care of their family and other kids are not even as lucky to say that they have parents which i think is really unfortunate.
In conclusion, i do think that we can all stop poverty if we do something about, but i accept that everyone has diferent views and thoughts on what to do about it. But i still think that if you think you should do something about it then you should and make your contribution to make the world a better place. But if you are stingy and selfish then boo on you! But i still hope you can change how you think about life.
In a recent play, Zero, an
In a recent play, Zero, an Ethiopian character held in a terrorist camp told his story to the play’s protagonist. He had owned a successful garage, which was helping him to live his life in a relatively comfortable way. Then a big car company moved into his town – he tried to convince his customers, mainly diplomats, that he could fix a car just as well as the big business could. They laughed at him, they took their cars to the international company, and his business went down, and he began to struggle and his anger began to rise.
He went home, and bought plastic explosives from the internet – he said he felt powerful by having them, better than the big business.
One day, struggling to pay his bills and stay afloat, a diplomat bought his car back to his garage, because the big garage was too busy. The man put plastic explosives beneath his car and killed him.
This story, fictional though it was, epitomises the way in which globalisation and western culture is causing global poverty, and terrorism. We can safely say that, had this western corporation not come to his city, his business would continue to thrive.
He became frustrated, then angry, and then his anger towards the business, and ultimately the rich and more successful, turned him to violence.
We can probably say that people in poverty look upon our lifestyle, perhaps with envy. They hear of how much water we have, and wonder why we can’t spare a glass. They hear of how we throw food away, and wonder why we can’t spare some of it.
If we empathise with these people, and see it from their perspective, it is interesting to see what they may think of us. Maybe they think we’re selfish, lazy, or inconsiderate. And frustration leads to anger, which leads to violence.
The combined wealth of the richest 500 individuals is equal to that of the poorest 400 million, approximately. Surely there is some sense of injustice here? Does anyone truly need that much money? Even Bill Gates himself has the combined wealth of 13 African countries.
If sparing a few quid will help these people out and stop them wanting to kill me, then that’s a small price to pay. When, in some instances, Western society is the cause of the problem, we should feel some obligation to right our wrongs.
Yes, terrorism is caused for a variety of reasons, the anger of the impoverished being only one of them. Religious fundamentalism, political ploy, etc. But a reduction in terrorism can only be a good thing.
Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
i think its sad that people
i think its sad that people suffer
we should help those people have better standard of life but not pump money into their economy. MONEY IS NOT THE ANSWER.... IT IS THE PROBLEM.
maybe we should take all the money away from everyone everywhere are just give everything out to people evenly...
(i know that is unlikely but maybe it would work...id give it a go)
Jodie, that's communism
Jodie, that's communism
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i work in sainsburys and we
i work in sainsburys and we get loads of homeless and poor people in. we have one regular who comes in and spends all the coins he can scrape together on the cheapest booze in the shop. i think this is an argument for not just handing out money to individuals, but giving it to governments n stuff to sort it out.
jackthehat
"Half of humanity lives on
"Half of humanity lives on less than 2 dollars a day" (Earth from the Air) Poverty is a major issue in the globe. How do we define it and should we and how do we solve it? Most people define poverty by comparing different social groups, countries and other catergories. This is relative. Often relative is subjective and to do with opinions not material or physical wealth. This can also be stereotypical. Another way of defining poverty is by absoulute measures (material wealth or a poverty line.) This is a physical measure. In one way this is better than relative as it not judged by opinions but material wealth is not the only thing that makes people impoverished. Other things are food, education, health systems, water etc. The Relative measure is useful when trying to find the best place or group to use your resources efficiently to improve peoples lives.
"826 million people are under-nourished in the world" (Earth Form the Air)
Generally we should help out the poor because it is unfair that we should be rich and live more than comfortably but the poor don't. However this is a opinion which is a problem. following on from this I believe we in the rich west have a moral obligation to help the poor because ultimately we are causing the poverty. For a start we allow companies like GAP and Primark to pay their labourers in Bangladesh and other countries very small amounts of money for extremely hard work. They are treated very badly too. The people haven’t got any unions and can’t create any or they will be fired. They have no choice or chance to improve their lives because the western companies want to have massive profits. Another case of big companies taking advantage of poor people was the Nestle case with milk for children in Africa. You probably have heard about it. We in the west live of the backs of the poor. This is unfair. Poverty can also cause terrorism (see Simran’s comment)
“People in rich countries, a mere 20% of the total human population, eat 45% of meat and fish consumed throughout the world” (Earth From the Air)