wealth and poverty essay

Wealth and Poverty in the World Essay examples

Wealth and Poverty in the World In the world today there is a lot of poverty. There is a great divide between the world’s rich and poor people. In the world today there are also rich people but the number of poor peoples out number them. There are many reasons as to why there is poverty in the world. Being a poor person can mean that you do not have enough food to eat for months, or even years and not just for a few hours or few days. Poverty can also mean not having enough money to be able to pay for lives necessities such as clothes, food, a place to live or even medicine that you may need when you ill. However it can also mean having just enough money to survive but not any extra money to …show more content…

There are many important leaders and teachings in Hinduism, but Hindus don’t follow the teachings of any one person. Hindus worship God or Brahman through gods and goddesses. Hinduism has many beliefs but most Hindus say that the great power can be seen most easily through the gods and goddesses. Hinduism also has a lot of thoughts on wealth and poverty. Hindus believe that wealth is a good thing as long as it has been gained by lawful means. Hindus believe that there are four basic aims in life and that pursuing wealth is one of them. Hindus believe that the four basic aims in life are dharma (religious and social duty), artha (gaining wealth), kama (enjoying the good life) and moksha (freedom or liberation). As you can see wealth is one of the four basic aims of a Hindu’s life. Artha encourages people to earn money honestly and lawfully. Gaining money in a dishonest way taints the money and the person earning it. It is also believed in Hinduism that it can earn you bad karma if you earn money in a dishonest way, which will affect your next rebirth. Hindus believe that the pursuit of wealth shouldn’t be something that dominates any ones life. It is however lawful because during the householder stage many people, including children, the partner and older members of the family are very dependent on one person’s ability to earn. The only restriction in the holy books is

Poverty In America Essay

Poverty is a common social issue that has troubled nations for thousands of years. While nations like the United States of America have worked diligently to eradicate it domestically, it still widely exists.“According to the U.S. Citizen burow 47.6 million citizens living in poverty.With 20% of those households living in extreme poverty.”(PBS.org)

Poverty : An Effective Means Of Population Control

Poverty is a major global issue in today’s society. It also has a broad definition as it is very complex and cannot be specifically defined. Poverty is circumstance-dependent. According to Sharif Mohammed, author of Poverty Reduction - An Effective Means of Population Control, “Poverty is a multidimensional condition of human survival, not just a measure of deficiency in income. It is generally defined in relation to a minimum standard of decent living. The levels of living below this are referred to as survival standards. Failure to attain and enjoy the standard is called absolute poverty.” Millions around the world are affected by poverty and it’s an issue that has plagued the globe for centuries. Different

The National Housing Act Of 1934

Poverty refers to the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support. Society often classifies this state as being poor. According to osomething.org 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat, and nearly ½ of the world 's population lives on less than 2.50 dollars a day. Osomething.org states that 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty on less than 1.25 a day, 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty, and 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. These statistics are rather alarming, and the first step to finding a solution to this problem is determining the root cause. Many would ask how this transpired. The answer to this is also the determining factor of not only what happened but

Gilded Age Poverty

Poverty is an issue that has affected society since civilization was first created. Even with a globalized economy and economic opportunity prevalent nearly everywhere, there is still a vast majority of people who live in financial strain. According to recent information obtained by the World Bank, “10.7% of the world’s population live on less than US $1.90 a day”(World Bank 2013). In the United States considered the wealthiest nation on Earth, the poverty rate is 12.7% which is 40.6 million people(US Census Bureau 2016). Though some people are in poverty because of their own choices, poverty is a result of structural institutional practices in place.

Poverty Between Poverty And Poverty Essay

Poverty in America is severe. One third of our population lives under the poverty line. The poverty line being a family of three or more surviving on $36,000 or less. This transfers to 20.5 million people. Seven million of these people being women with children. 6.7% of our population has an income less than 9,000 for a family of three. These numbers are astounding and they are only on the rise. This means that more families are going without food. This means more children are starving and getting sick and dying. One in four families are going without food. This is a huge problem. Everyone says that poverty is a problem but most people are ignorant to the fact that it is beyond our comprehension how big it is.

The Social Justice Issue Of Poverty

Many describe poverty as an economic deprivation, or lack of income. However, this alone does not incorporate the different social, cultural and political aspects of this unfortunate reality. Poverty is not only a deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The general scarcity, lack, or the state of one without a specific amount of material possessions or money. It is a versatile concept that may be defined as either absolute or relative. Time and again, poverty is a call to action, for the poor and the wealthy alike, it is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.

Reasons that Can Cause Poverty Essay

Poverty is the lack of the basic needs of life, including food, shelter, clothing and safe drinking water. For a person to live normally, it is important to meet a certain level of physical, social, and emotional needs. People who live in poverty have difficult time to achieve those as they are not welcomed in many places. Because of their low incomes, they have troubles in maintaining their health, hunger, education. Poverty has become a large issue around the world. It is something that many of us know about but we’re not realizing just how big of a problem it is. This paper will include basic information about poverty, its effects, facts and statistics which can make people aware and want to help reduce poverty.

Poverty As A Contemporary Social Problem Essay

Poverty is a massive issue today, it surrounds all of life’s experiences, and it impacts on the future for people everywhere, and on health everywhere in society. Poverty is not just related to unemployment or

Rich vs. Poor Essay

​ A man’s economic status is based solely on his wealth and his material possessions, or lack thereof to define him as being “rich” or “poor.” Similarly, these two words, “rich” or “poor,” should also describe a man’s character.

Descriptive Essay On Poverty

People are dying every minute because of this terrible disease. No antidotes have been found to eliminate it. Poverty is like an epidemic with no antidote affecting the entire world. It has already killed billions of people, and will continue killing unless we do something to stop it. Have you ever thought what living in poverty is like? Seeing a shocking picture in which people were trying to survive gave me a whole different perspective. That image showed me one of the poorest areas of the planet where people were living under despicable conditions. They were working in sweatshops, collecting garbage and living in broken down huts in order to survive. A polluted river passes across from their humble homes, causing incomparable complication to their lives. I could observe the terrible conditions in which this people are working, fishing and collecting garbage. Not only pollution is shown in this photo, above of the photograph a bridge could be observed. I imagine the noise, and the dust that this little detail brings to their lives. That photograph made me feel angry at politicians because they could do a better job helping the needy. Since they were almost dying, I felt sad for the circumstances they live in. A sense of admiration for the way they are able to survive, gave me the strength to fight against this global scourge. The author of this picture is trying to convey a message, showing us poverty in all its faces and inviting us to be part of his fight against

Argumentative Essay On Poverty

Thousands of individuals are living in poverty. Why is it that this worldwide dilemma is still rising in rapid numbers till this day? Is it because of a lack of authoritative power, or a lack of one’s self control to do good? Despite the unknown cause, it has managed to drastically affect the lives of many. Poverty is like a curse, one that is wrongfully placed, difficult to get out of, and resistant to many forms of help.

How Does Poverty Affect People’s Health and Well-Being? Essay examples

The health and well-being of a person depends on lots of different circumstances. It is about finding a good work / life balance and feeling healthy in body as well as mind. It is about feeling good in what you do and who you are as a person, it is about achieving personal goals and accomplishing your hopes and dreams.

Poverty in Less Developed Countries Essay

Poverty in Developing and Less Developed Countries The world includes less developed countries and developing countries. Less developed countries are countries considered to be poor and often contain many people who are in absolute poverty. Developing countries are countries like India, which are gaining in wealth. There are two types of poverty within the world.

Poverty in Africa Essay example

African nations regularly fall to the bottom of any list measuring economic activity, such as per capita income or per capita GDP, despite a wealth of natural resources. The bottom 25 spots of the United Nations (UN) quality of life index are regularly filled by African nations. In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are in Africa. In many nations, the per capita income is often less than $200 U.S. per year, with the vast majority of the population living on much less. In addition, Africa's share of income has been consistently dropping over the past century by any measure. In 1820, the average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns twenty

Persuasive Essay On Poverty

Poverty is a social problem that affects everyone on an economic, political and social level. The problem of human suffering is one that we must combat strategically on many levels. According to the United Nations, “in 2015 more than one billion people around the world live in a state of poverty, lacking the basic goods food, clothing, and shelter that humans need to survive” (“Poverty”). There are a great number of areas that keep individuals poor, such as lack of resources, inadequate income, lack of education, language barriers and the high cost of child care. Being able to work and provide basic necessities is our basic human right and we should not be deprived of these basic human rights that individuals need in order to live satisfying lives. The government has the responsibility of helping individuals in need with the economic assistance to feed, clothe, house, educate, provide health care and decent wages for every individual. They should ensure that individuals have access to resources that will help them build a better future. There are several ways that we can work together to strategically find solutions to end inequality among the poor individuals in our society.

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Wealth and Poverty

How it works

When one thinks of poverty, often times “poor” is used to describe the unfortunate state. While I believe these are synonymous terms, I will take a different route in describing what I formally believe poverty truly is. To me, poverty is the state of lacking financial resources to meet the nation’s minimum standard of living, which I believe is the minimum level needed to acquire basic necessities: food, water, and shelter. This standard is also used by the government as a gauge to determine if a household is eligible for federal subsidies such as Social Security and Medicaid (Sraders, 2018).

As of January 11, 2019, the poverty guideline for a one person household is $12,490, while the poverty guideline for a two person household is $16,910 (ASPE). I will focus my thesis on the one person guideline due to my experience living in poverty in a family friend’s basement with my widowed mother since I was eight years old. These adversities have not only shaped who I am as a man today, but they have also shaped my view on poverty’s inception and the conditions it entails. My childhood tribulations have allowed me to link poverty to three catalysts: a devastating loss in the family, lack of education, and no prior history of family wealth.

When I was eight years old living in Houston, Texas my father, the breadwinner of the household, passed away from brain cancer. Because my mom was a part-time special education associate at the time earning very little money, she could no longer support the house. Graciously, our family friends in Fort Collins, Colorado offered for us to live temporarily in their basement, at least until my mom was able to get her feet under her. I was very conflicted with the move away from home, as the last thing I wanted to do was leave my childhood friends behind and live in someone else’s basement. At the time, I didn’t fully understand how poor we truly were. While my dad earned a below average income as a machinist, I never considered us “poor.” Throughout my childhood in Houston, I was able to experience many of the same delights my friends were, such as birthday parties, vacations to South Padre Island, and Christmas presents every year. After the loss of my dad; however, things were noticeably different. I certainly began to feel “poor.” I vividly recall cycling through the same four to five outfits each week, receiving less and less as each birthday and Christmas passed, not experiencing vacations unless I was invited by a friend, and living off frozen meals for dinner. After my mom struggled to find an affordable place to live, our family friend offered us to live with them permanently. We had no choice but to accept. After a year in Fort Collins, my mom and I moved with our family friends to Dallas Center, Iowa, still living in their basement. Although we moved to a more affordable location, my mom and I still stuck around the poverty guideline as she never earned more than $16,000 as a special education associate at Dallas Center-Grimes High School. Our journey into poverty was certainly kick started by the unexpected, devastating loss of my dad, and I am confident that many other families around the country are poverty stricken due to a devastating loss in the family.

My next catalyst of poverty is a lack of education in the family. My father is originally from Coventry, England and received no post-secondary education during his time across the pond. Due to the poverty stricken state of his family, his migration to the United States was driven by a pursuit of financial stability and opportunity. Similarly, my mother also received no formal education beyond high school. The lack of a college education severely limited the earning potential of my parents, which should be no surprise according to recent data by the Bureau of Labor Statics. In 2017, median weekly earnings for those who earned a bachelor’s degree were $1,173, significantly more than the $712 those with only a high school diploma earn (Torpey, 2018). My father, working as a machinist, and my mother, working as a special education associate, possessed jobs that yielded meager earnings, a circumstance resulting directly from their lack of postsecondary education. This correlation only magnified after the passing of my father, as the difficulty of maintaining a household as a widowed spouse without a college degree only rises.

My third and final catalyst of poverty is possessing little to none family wealth. As previously mentioned, my dad migrated to the United States from England for the sole purpose of breaking the poverty cycle in his family. Furthermore, while my mom did not come from a poor family necessarily, no family wealth existed that would prevent us from being near the poverty guideline. In addition, I believe this third catalyst is a fundamental driver of the cycle of the wealth gap. High-earning families are able to pass on their wealth to their offspring, allowing them to pursue a college education and continue the family trend of staying in the upper middle class. On the contrary, families in poverty do not possess resources to provide to their offspring to facilitate their financial stability in hopes to buck the poverty trend in the family. As a first-generation college student, had I not been fortunate enough to receive academic scholarships, I likely would have continued down the poverty cycle that has stayed in family for years on end.

Living on cheap, frozen meals, working to help support my mother throughout middle school and high school, and rotating through just a few outfits are some of the unfortunate conditions that entailed living in poverty with my mom after my dad passed away from brain cancer. The poverty stricken nature of my childhood can be attributed to the loss of my father, my parents’ lack of education, and no prior family wealth. Not only do I believe these are the three critical elements of myself growing up poor, but I believe these are the three catalysts that help drive the ubiquitous epidemic of poverty.

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Wealth and Poverty essay

Apart from conventional beliefs, a nation with less wealth is not necessarily a nation of deprived individuals. Conversely, having more wealth expressed in terms of income and property (i. e. GDP and GNP) does not translate to greater well-being of the populace. Poverty is affected not merely by economic factors but also of social and cultural environment, affecting the general quality of people’s life. Poverty is a multidimensional problem. On the most basic level, it is characterized by the lack of access to primary needs like food, safe water, shelter, health care, education and security.

Then, it impairs an individual’s right to a broad spectrum of choices and liberties especially those that will affect one’s future and the kind of life he or she wants to pursue. Those people living in the throes of poverty are living a life filled with insecurity, vulnerability, powerlessness and a degraded quality of existence. Another way of defining poverty is to look into its antithesis. Anup Shah (2006) of Global Issues has the following views with regards to successful development: it means access to basic needs, an environment of overall stability, and an equal chance to owning land and property.

An ideal, poverty-free society encourages democratic participation and does not hamper the right to make educated decisions which are free from oppression and harassment. It also adheres to the United Nation’s guidelines to Human Development. World poverty has its roots in the socio-cultural structures of nations that date back to the age of colonization and imperialism. Thus, one of the myths that surround poverty is that poor, developing countries are caught in the ‘vicious trap’ with no chance of liberation. Walter B.

Williams (2003) of the George Mason University asserts that this is one of the greatest lies, as rich nations surely are not born rich. As a teacher of economics, he states that this belief enslaves poor nations to the foreign aids extended by industrialized ones, making them even more dependent and indebted. These development funds, from the viewpoints of analysts, are just means to protect existing corrupt systems and to preserve tyrants and crooks in their positions. Williams (2003) and Lappe with her colleagues (1998) dispute the correlation made between population and poverty.

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Hunger is a result of inequities in societies where “land ownership, jobs, education, health care, and old age security are beyond the reach of most people” (Lappe, Collins, Rosset & Esparza, 1998). Williams stressed that the citizens are a nation’s ultimate wealth, but only with proper investments. He cited Hong Kong and Taiwan as ideal examples. They have higher population densities than China, but are more progressive than the latter because of their economic policies and more educated populace. Being poor, far from the sentiments of the upper and the middle classes, does not happen by choice or is a product of a person’s sheer laziness.

This is one of the common misconceptions because poverty occurs from the lack opportunities and tools for success, not because the individual is a failure. The world’s current production of food and resources is actually enough to feed the whole planet and to make everyone live comfortably. The problem is that these wealth are concentrated among the powerful few. Inequality cannot be separated from the concept of poverty, and with other societal issues. There are different kinds of inequality but one of the most prevalent, besides the ones previously mentioned economic disparity, is that of racial and ethnic origin.

Racial and ethnic inequalities result from the recognition of physical or cultural differences between groups and attaching social definitions to them. For instance, black and Hispanic students are usually stigmatized as poor in class relative to their Asian and White counterparts. Richard Anderson (2000) from the University of Colorado at Denver confirmed that African American Air Force trainees fare not quite as good with the other students because of the (white) instructors’ alleged lack of faith in their capacities. They are not given as much opportunity to take risk, which is an integral part in their course.

Another form of inequality is one inflicted among women. Although prevalent in the Third Worlds of Africa and Asia, gender inequality is definitely a worldwide phenomenon. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2001) presented the “many faces of gender inequality” in his works. The seven types are mortality inequality, natality inequality, basic facility inequality, special opportunity inequality, professional inequality, ownership inequality and household inequality. For modern societies, women’s oppressions typically include the burden of maintaining career and home at the same, as well as roadblocks to occupational or educational success.

However, in traditional cultures where women are viewed as mere second-class citizens, domestic abuse, abortion of female babies and foetal-sex change becomes the problem. Just like women, non-heterosexual persons like gays, lesbians, transsexuals and transgender individuals are common victims of inequalities. Often referred to as societal problems due to a person’s sexual orientations, Lucianne Englert (2005) of Indiana University wrote that injustices faced by these people are present everywhere, from work and housing discrimination to lack of tax benefits akin to state-recognized marriages.

Gay bashings, legal separation from their children and revoked rights to HIV status privacy also occurs. Sexual orientation problems are different from other social problems because gays and lesbians are not securely protected by the Constitution. “There are no civil rights for homosexuals” according to Judith Roof of IU, “Civil rights protection for non-heterosexuals tend to be seen as gifts rather than rights derived from the Constitution . . . the powers that grant them also have the right to wrest those rights away.

” (Englert, 2005) Poverty and inequality are two of the greatest problems afflicting the world today. They bore the greatest effect on human lives and cannot be separated from other ails afflicting society. Once the public collectively attach labels to the traits distinctive of a particular group or gender, behaviour towards this group is altered. This will eventually shape their roles in the community. The adverse affect of this may range from overt, like a denied admission to a good university, or subtle, like slower customer services.

Generally, their parity right to resources and opportunities is breached and due to the differential treatment, they are involuntarily segregated as unwanted members of the population.

WORKS CITED

Anderson, R. H. (2000). Racial and Ethnic Inequality. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2007 at: http://carbon. cudenver. edu/public/sociology/introsoc/topics/ UnitNotes/week07. html Englert, L. (2005). Sexual Orientation. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2007 at: http://www. indiana. edu/~rcapub/v18n2/p23. html Lappe, F. M. , Collins, J. , Rosset, P. , & Esparza, L. , (1998). World Hunger:12 Myths. Retrieved Nov.

26, 2007 at: http://www. foodfirst. org/pubs/ backgrds/1998/s98v5n3. html Shah, A. (2006, January 28). Poverty Around the World. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2007 at: http://www. globalissues. org/TradeRelated? poverty/AroundTheWorld. asp Sen, A. (2001). Many Faces of Gender Inequality. Frontline 18(22) Retrieved Nov. 26, 2007 at: http://www. flonnet. com/fl1822/18220040. htm William, W. E. (2003, January 22). Poverty Myths. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2007 at: http://www. townhall. com/print/print_story. php? sid=169079&loc=/opinion/ columns/ walterwilliams/2003/01/22/169079. html

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Extremes of Wealth and Poverty

The vertical axis shows the total real income growth between 1980 and 2016 for each percentile of the global distribution of income per adult. The bottom 10 percentiles are excluded as their income levels are close to zero. The top 1% is divided into smaller groups (up to the top .001%) to better account for its share in total global growth captured. Based on data from World Inequality Report 2018, available at wir2018.wid.world.

From 1980 to 2016 the world economy has grown enormously, but the benefits have been distributed very unevenly. The bottom ten percent still has essentially no income. The next ten to forty percent has seen more than a hundred percent growth in income, but from a very low base, and mostly in China. The middle classes from fifty to ninety-five percent income groups have grown only fifty percent at best over 36 years, while the top 0.001 percent has seen their income grow by nearly 250 percent. New wealth has gone increasingly to the top.

This reflects a system that rewards capital rather than labour, particularly through an institutional structure of multinational corporations which sometimes go out of their way to reduce their tax liabilities and evade national regulation and in some cases tending naturally to monopoly positions, and chartered to generate maximum profits, excess capital and dividends for their shareholders, wealth which is often located in tax-free havens.

A recent literature review published in Finance & Development indicates that “tax havens collectively cost governments between US$500 to US$600 billion a year in lost corporate tax revenue” and notes that US$200 billion of this is lost to low-income countries, substantially higher than the total of official development assistance and a proportionately much higher share of GDP than in the case of the advanced economies.

Succeeding generations of corporations have captured the wealth creation from primary production including minerals and fossil fuels, manufacturing, industrial agriculture, various forms of intellectual property, and now information technologies and big data. National policies have directed this wealth to the state where corporations are state-owned, with some reasonable distribution in social democracies, and almost entirely to the shareholders in more market-based economies, with more or less concern for social and environmental impacts. These impacts have been most extreme where weak national governance and corruption have left corporations free reign to exploit labour and resources.

In such a globalized economy beyond national control, only global systems of regulation and taxation, comparable to what was necessary at the national level in the 20th century to control monopolies, can bring the wealth creation of the economy back into balance with environmental imperatives to stay within planetary boundaries, and social imperatives to distribute that wealth equitably for the benefit of all of humanity.

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Other Organizations to Look at

• The World Bank
• International Monetary Fund
• Inequality.org by the Institute for Policy Studies
• United Nations
• Oxfam International
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Care International

This book’s trenchant analysis of what ails the running of the globe should be read by policymakers everywhere, and certainly by those many citizens who concern themselves with fostering a better and more functional world. Change comes slowly, but this book is a prodding catalyst.

Robert I. Rotberg, Harvard Kennedy School, author of On Governance

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Poverty Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty essay.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Mahatma Gandhi.

How Poverty is Measured?

For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line.  If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is  Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.

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Causes of Poverty

According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often &  his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty

The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities , controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened  ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.

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Wealth, Poverty, and Systems of Economic Class

Introduction.

In economics, poverty, wealth, and society’s economic stratification are interrelated concepts linked to racial, gender, and regional inequalities. Disparities in income and wealth distribution contribute to societal stratification and the emergence of social classes. In a capitalist economy such as the United States, the conflict arising from competition for scarce resources creates and maintains an unequal social order. In this context, the wealthy and powerful elite work in economic self-interest to maximize their welfare through unfair laws and societal structures. By examining wealth, poverty, and economic classes from the perspective of social justice, the socioeconomic inequalities persistent in society will become clear.

Conceptual Meaning

Income and wealth are often used interchangeably, but these terms are conceptually different. Rakopoulos and Rio make a basic distinction between the two concepts: income is the resource flow over a specific duration, while wealth refers to accumulated assets at a particular time (276). This conceptual difference is linked to historical and cultural ideas of material possessions and power. The industrial revolution that marked capitalist history saw land and other factors of production, including labor, become interchangeable commodities (Gregory 314). As a result, their exchange value and distribution were integrated into capital processes. Therefore, capitalism transformed the traditional fixed form of wealth into a transferrable commodity, putting it into economic circulation.

Capitalism and Wealth

Capital is viewed as a process through which wealth circulates. Its value is transient: it starts as money, converts to a commodity, and reverts to its monetary form (Muehlebach 244). While wealth awaits to enter circulation, it is a fixed capital that has some value. Therefore, although it seems static, it earns profits and boosts the national economy. Based on Marxist thinking, wealth has an anticipated higher value, making it an item of struggle (Allen 89). Cross-cultural differences exist in the expectation of the future good. In India, wealth is largely linked to children, while in European cultures, individuals and companies consider it a prospective value increment (Gregory 314). It enables people to convert wealth into inalienable items such as farmland, kinship, and fame to which they have exclusive rights now and in the future.

Accounting for inequalities, the present and future value of wealth are unequally distributed. According to Rakopoulos and Rio, the return on capital far outstrips its output under a capitalistic system (281). Unfairly amassed wealth, including land, contribute to inequalities and poverty since the value of circulating commodities or capital is inalienable. Although capitalist economies stress dynamic capital, its flow in the market leads to more accumulation by the wealthy and powerful. Hoarding capital through corruption or exploiting legal loopholes in anticipation of future value increment is unproductive and does not benefit the economy. Thus, privately accumulated wealth and related income is a foremost contributor to inequality – a large gap between the poorest and the wealthiest – in contemporary society.

Unequal Wealth Distribution

Wealth is not static; its value is relational, affecting its demand in the larger society. Capitalist states see reserve bank deposits as the guarantee of future value, while dynasties regard their farmland and assets as capital (Rakopoulos and Rio 284). In modern times, the sources of wealth include products of local skills and craftsmanship, including cultural artifacts and paintings, considered a valuable heritage for communities. These items can be viewed as fixed capital with a future market value. However, the flow of these forms of wealth is unequal, with the rich and powerful having an inalienable right to them. Elitist brands, including Ferrari, though built by ordinary engineers and technicians, are sources of wealth for big corporates and families that invest in them (Rakopoulos and Rio 289). Although the common artisans may have financial claims, the capital distribution reflects the relational power in a society.

Wealth creation depends on harnessing ordinary people’s inalienable skills and talents, but its distribution is not equal. For example, one percent of American households control fifteen times more wealth than the bottom 50% of the people combined (Wodtke 1379). Therefore, in contemporary times, wealth is intertwined with the power to control social production processes. The management of its reproduction relies not on its hoarding but on removing it from social control (Gregory 314). Exclusive groups, corporations, and countries enhance the commercial value of capital beyond the poor’s reach. These entities continue to amass riches using historical advantages, widening the inequality gap and creating socioeconomic stratification.

A Multidimensional Phenomenon

Poverty has many faces, and multiple indicators are used to capture the different deprivations experienced by a population. This complex phenomenon is linked to economic wellbeing, capability, and social exclusion (Wagle 184). Poverty is a major moral problem because of the suffering it causes and the disadvantages conferred to some population segments. It is defined as a persistent and debilitating social condition attributed to diverse causes that affect a person’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing (Gweshengwe et al. 3). The complex nature of poverty means that multiple measures are used depending on a country’s priorities.

Economic Wellbeing

Income and consumption are key quantifiable indicators of poverty in society. These variables measure economic wellbeing and contain absolute, relative, and subjective components. At the basic level is absolute poverty, which describes the lack of necessities needed for survival – shelter, clean water, and food (Wagle 184). Here, the quality of survival is an important consideration that is not quantifiable. A person may require social, cultural, economic, or political resources to survive, but these aspects cannot be measured in monetary terms. Based on the survival criteria, poverty is described as the income level necessary to obtain the least calorie intake or personal wellbeing (Gweshengwe et al. 6). Therefore, earnings or wages are connected to consumption and welfare needs, which are not quantifiable.

Determining the minimum income level that would suffice individual wellbeing is not easy. The International Monetary Fund and other agencies use a dollar-a-day expenditure as the absolute poverty line (Wagle 186). However, other organizations consider basic needs and essential services, including health, in defining poverty. In contrast, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) distinguishes two other forms of absolute deprivation: extreme poverty (scarcity of the income needed to purchase basic food) and overall poverty that extends to non-food items (11). Given that individual incomes, consumption, and wellbeing depend on other people in society, poverty lines are variable. The lower group’s median income is used as a measure of the living standards compared to the high-income groups. This approach estimates relative poverty, where people are described as poor if their incomes are below the median level in society (Wagle 186). The economic well-being view means that poverty can be alleviated by raising median incomes and consumptive capacities of the underprivileged.

Capability Poverty

Separating the poor from the non-poor requires considering additional factors besides income, consumption, and wellbeing. The capability approach to poverty considers factors limiting one’s ability to attain a welfare status (Gweshengwe et al. 9). Variables such as health and education impact the quality of life and incomes. Capability is considered the capacity to attain full functioning, but this ability is not entirely dependent on income. The UNDP uses five metrics to measure this type of poverty: “illiteracy, malnutrition, life expectancy, poor maternal health, and preventable disease morbidity” (13). The income-capability relationship depends on age, sex, social roles, place, and wellness. A person with a low income may exhibit lower-level functioning and capability within an industrial society.

Beyond material deprivation, the freedom to exercise choice may be limited for the poor. A high-level capability is associated with greater access to resources and alternatives (Gweshengwe et al. 8). Therefore, distributive justice is required to ensure equal rights in society, such as employment, nutrition, and social inclusion. Poor nutritional status impacts health, limiting one’s ability to derive income. Additionally, morbidity and low life expectancy disproportionately affect the poor due to the deprivation of capabilities. While this approach includes dimensions beyond income-related factors, it does not consider institutional or social barriers to human wellbeing.

Social Exclusion

Another aspect of poverty is social exclusion – marginalization from economic or political processes. High-income individuals or those with considerable capabilities may still be poor if systems are designed to exclude people based on personal characteristics. Structural factors, including macroeconomic policies, may impose barriers to some groups, limiting their participation in socio-economic development. In most countries, social exclusion is based on race, gender, or regional marginalization, limiting people’s access to economic activities (UNDP 19). Socially excluded persons or groups cannot exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, including political participation. Excluding people with a specific demographic profile from democratic processes leads to policies that do not reflect their interests and priorities, limiting their upward mobility. As a result, these individuals or groups become economically disadvantaged or poor.

Systems of Economic Class

Description.

A fundamental consensus among sociologists is that society can be hierarchically ordered based on income or other characteristics. A social class is a group of individuals with comparable economic, occupational, or political statuses (Jacobs and Mariana 31). This stratification system reflects an accepted form of control with sociocultural aspects unique to a given society. In the United States, a three-tier model that comprises the upper, middle, and working classes are used (Pansini et al. 6). This stratification reflects the economic inequality in advanced capitalist economies and is dependent on the amount of wealth held. Large accumulated capital limits the need to participate in wage labor (working class). Wealthy individuals are the elites that dictate political and economic discourses in a country. Issues of race and national origin also determine one’s position in the social class system.

Economic Classes in the United States

As already stated, American society is organized into three economic classes. Expanding this three-tier system results in six strata that differ based on annual household incomes. The first category has three sub-classes, including the upper class that constitutes about 3% of the population (Wodtke 1379). The next group is the upper-upper class that comprises individuals with incomes ranging between hundreds of millions and billions annually. The top 1% of the American population falls into this economic stratum (Wodtke 1379). The third sub-class is the lower-upper class that earns millions of dollars yearly. It constitutes 2% of the people in the United States (Wodtke 1380). The elites and wealthy political families belong to this group.

The middle class is the largest economic stratum in the United States. It comprises about 40% of the population, including the upper-middle sub-group (14%) that earn over $76,000 annually and the lower-middle sub-class (30%) whose earnings range between $19,000 and $18,000 yearly (Wodtke 1381). Lastly, the lower class is predominantly the waged labor that must work to survive. It comprises the working poor (13%) and the underclass (14%) that earn $9,000-18,000 and below $9,000 annually, respectively (Wodtke 1382). This economic class system focuses solely on income, and therefore, ignores non-economic variables that influence inequality.

Another model entails different descriptions for each economic class besides income. The upper class includes people with amassed wealth and influence on politics and economic policy. This privilege is often bequeathed from their kin, but upward mobility by some corporate elite is possible. The upper-middle-class includes educated or talented professionals with high-paying careers (Jacobs and Mazzucato 44). The innovations and intellect of top attorneys and engineers are the sources of their wealth. In contrast, the middle class is the biggest group that consists of mid-level managers and low-rank professions such as teaching. On the other hand, the working class includes the uneducated persons in menial jobs, for example, housekeeping. The latter group often lives below the poverty line and has limited opportunities for upward mobility.

The analysis shows that income inequality manifests as poverty, disparities in wealth distribution, and economic classes in a society. In a capitalist system, accumulated capital, though exchangeable, is concentrated in a few individuals. Similarly, household incomes below the median level and social exclusion through policy or laws deprive people of the capabilities required for upward mobility. As a result, society becomes unequal, and three basic economic groups are recognized: the upper, middle, and lower (working) classes.

Works Cited

Allen, Robert C. “Class Structure and Inequality during the Industrial Revolution: Lessons From England’s Social Tables, 1688–1867.” The Economic History Review , vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 88-125.

Gregory, Chris. “An Economic Theology of Wealth: A Perspective from Central India.”  History and Anthropology vol. 29, no. 3, 2018, pp. 307-323.

Gweshengwe, Blessing, et al. “Defining the Characteristics of Poverty and Their Implications for Poverty Analysis.” Congent Social Science , vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, 1-10.

Jacobs, Michael, and Mariana Mazzucato, editors. Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and  Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth . John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

Muehlebach, Andrea. “Commonwealth: On Democracy and Dispossession in Italy.” History  and Anthropology, vol. 29, no. 3, 2018, pp. 342-358.

Pansini, Riccardo, et al. “Segregating Socioeconomic Classes Leads To an Unequal Redistribution of Wealth.” Palgrave Communications , vol. 6, no. 46, 2020, pp. 1-13.

Rakopoulos, Theodoros, and Knut Rio. “Introduction to an Anthropology of Wealth.” History  and Anthropology , vol. 29, no. 3, 2018, pp. 275-291.

United Nations Development Program. “Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2019: Illuminating Inequalities.” Web.

Wagle, Udaya. “Rethinking Poverty: Definition and Measurement.” International Social  Science Journal, vol. 68, no. 227, 2018, pp. 183-193.

Wodtke, Geoffrey T. “Social Class and Income Inequality in the United States: Ownership, Authority, and Personal Income Distribution from 1980 to 2010.” American Journal of Sociology , vol. 121, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1375-1415.

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Wealth and poverty essay

Maryam Chaudhery 10W

Wealth & Poverty

I am going to outline the Christian teachings and the Islamic teachings on if wealth and poverty is a good or bad thing.

I will research on the internet, books etc. I will also have papers to help me with what Christianity and Islam think of wealth and poverty.

Christians believe that wealth can be used for good, such as buying food for the starving, or evil, such as buying weapons for terrorists, so being wealthy is not a bad thing. Many biblical teachings show that if people have the wrong attitude to money, wealth can lead them away from God.

In the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) Jesus told a story about a rich farmer who had a splendid harvest and decided to build bigger barns in which to store his extra grains when he had done this he thought to himself ‘ you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.’ However, that night he died, and had no chance to enjoy his wealth. This story shows that you may have all the money in the world, but this ‘fun’ will stop; it will stop because of your death and you don’t be buried with money but you could give it to people less fortunate than yourself. ‘True happiness is not founding riches or wellbeing, in human fame or power, or in any achievement, but in God alone.’ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1723. This quote is saying that you can only find happiness in God but I think that you cannot find happiness in fame, power or riches etc but happiness is found in achievements, being with family & friends as well as God. Christianity teaches that wealth it self is neither bad nor good, but the way it can be used can be bad. Christians should not see money for its own sake. Christians believe that money is needed to provide a decent standard of living, but Christians must make it honestly and use it fairly.

Christianity teach us that we should feed that hungry and clothe the naked, many modern Christians believe that they can fulfill this duty whilst having wealth themselves in material possession. I don’t think that this is an acceptable Christian practice because they have the wealth themselves while the people outside their door are starving, I think that they should give around £20 to charity every week or every 2 weeks.

        In the parable of the sheep and the goats it teaches us that we ought to do all in our power to help the poor and those in need. Jesus once told a rich man who put money before God to ‘sell everything you have and give to the poor ……. ….you will have treasure in heaven.’ This shows that we all should try and give something to the poor and those in need. The Catholic Church says that, ‘God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them…..’ it has also been said that the Church should concern itself first, and indeed second, with the poor and needy.’ Christians believe that poverty is a bad thing and we should do all I our power to stop it, but the church should always come first.

Islam’s teaching on wealth and poverty are similar to those of Christianity.

Islam teaches that wealth is something given by God for the benefit of humanity and, therefore, is some thing to be shared.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Islam has always thought that Muslims have a duty to make money to provide for them selves and their families. ‘It is we who portion out between them their livelihood in the life of the world; and we raise some of them above others in rank so that some may command work from others. But the merry of the lord is better than the wealth they amass’ surah 43:32. This is saying that the mercy of the lord is much betters then the wealth. God had permitted trade and had forbidden usury (lending and borrowing at interest).  Surah 2:275. You should not borrow something or lend something out at a bigger cost, making an interest. ‘O ye who believe!  Intoxicants and gambling. . . . Are an abomination. ‘Surah 5; 93. The believer, i.e. the Muslim should not gamble nor drink alcohol.

The Quran teaches that those who live on charity spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their lord. Muslims have two main ways to help the disadvantaged; these are Zakah and Sadaqah.

        Zakah is one of the five pillars of Islam which involves giving 2.5% of your yearly savings to those in need. This is done regardless of ones financial position. Muslims believe in putting your family first and zakah is collected on money and goods surplus to the family’s requirements. Zakah is donated annually and is used for paying ransom for release of hostages of prisoners of war; education promoting Islam for the payment of teachings at the mosques; to help stranded travelers such as those of hajj; helping converts to Islam; to assist the unprivileged and poor members of the community; to pay debts on behalf of those owing money to pay employees collecting zakah. Zakah is only given to Muslims.  

        None Muslims and those who need help in international disasters are helped to Sadaqah. This is additional aid given out of compassion to others in need, and need not to be simple financial assistance. Many Muslims chose to give Sadaqah as well as compulsory zakah possibly because the Quran teaches that god has given all wealth and position for the benefit of humanitarian aid. Muhammad (SAW) said ‘he is not a believer who eats full while his neighbor remains hungry by his side.’

Islamic relief is a large charity helping all over the world. Islamic Relief began from a small organization and has since grown into an international organization. Islamic Relief was started in1984 by two students Hany El Banna and Ihsan Shabib. The first donation was just 20p and came from a young child and since that day Islamic Relief had since grown from strength to strength into an international organization.

Islamic Relief focuses its efforts on providing emergency relief for those who are victims of Natural Disasters. Islamic Relief used to do short term relief but they soon relised that this was not enough, so they started to do long term projects such as providing clean water, health services, education and encouraging local communities to set up Enterprises to support themselves.  Islamic Relief helps in many countries such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Mali, Palestine, Sudan, UK, Yemen and many many more.

Islamic Relief gets it money from all over the world 29% is give by the United Kingdom, 16.5% is given by United States, 18% is given by France, 2.5% is given by Holland, 3% is given by Belgium,5% is given by Germany, 2% is given by the other countries (Sweden, Mauritius, Switzerland), 30% is given by the Field Office and 21% by the head quarters. This money is used for many either development projects, Emergency Relief, development education or raising further funds all over the world.

Islamic Relief is a charity which is dedicated to alleviating the poverty and suffering of the world’s poorest people. Religious people support Islamic Relief because it is the duty of all Muslims to care for the less fortunate, to assist those in need even if they are Muslims or non-Muslims. In the Quran and in the Prophet Muhammad (saw) Hadith it says “make it an obligation for Muslims to give to charity” saying make it a duty to give to charity. Muslims are required to remember that life is a test and merely a bridge towards a better life.

Islamic Relief and Islam go together not only by the by the name but Islamic Relief takes in Sadaqah and Zakah. Sadaqah means ‘to speak the truth’ this is the duty of all Muslim to strive towards the truth and it is quite often the case that a desire or a greed for this world will cloud this judgment. Sadaqah is not compulsory but it is greatly blessed as the giver is giving a sacrifice (sacrifice/holy gift) of their wealth. Sadaqah does not need to be in the form of money and every one can give Sadaqah. Zakah carries different obligations, it is compulsory and only the rich have to pay. This is necessary in order to create economically balanced economy. Zakah is normally calculated as 2.5% after the thresh hold has been reached, this is paid once a year, the distribution of Zakah is determined by Allah ‘Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those who employed to administer the (funds): for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to truth); for those in bond age and in debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer; (thus is it) ordained by Allah. And Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.’ Al-Quran 9:6

In this part of my course work I am going to cover the argument that “there should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world.” The Bible and the Quran have teachings on wealth and poverty and it is an issue that has influenced all great religions e.g. the Bible has on wealth than any other holy book.

“There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world” I disagree with this statement because the people who are rich have worked very hard, very long to earn their money, the money that makes them rich. God has given people gifts, whether the girt to sing, dance very well or even be very creative, people have used their gift to show others what they can do, showing people their talent and if we use the gift from god then that is not wrong.

People who are rich should give at least some of their money to charity to try and stop poverty because if 1% of Americas’ wealth can stop poverty in a second then that is the same as all the rich people in the world giving a small part of their wealth to charity. A great example is John Laing; John Laing was a dedicated Christian and was a successful businessman. He made millions of pounds but gave most to charity, when he died at the age of 98 he only had £371 in his bank account, less than most of the people who had worked for him.

        Some people may agree with the statement because rice people do take advantage of the money they have, they think that they have a higher status than others with less money, they use their money to become richer, (gamble), business often based in rich countries do very little to help poor countries, their only goal is to make profits. Rich people spend their money on things which are not useful, get cars which cost more than houses, do drugs, plastic surgery. For one night only P.Diddy’s bill was £50,000 all this money was a complete waste on drinks instead of wasting the money, he could have given that money to charity and a child could have bought some new books for school with his money.

In Islam Muslims are expected to give Zakah and the more money you make the more you give, so even if you are really rich you need to give 2.5% of your yearly earnings to charity even if you make a million pounds that year. When people are rich all they could think of is what are they going to buy next and not thinking of God money is keeping them a distant from the Prophet and Jesus. Celebrities (who are all rich) are role models for their singing, acting etc and ordinary people look up to them but the Prophet and Jesus lives very simple and humble lives, they taught us which are useful for every one and they are the one who should be role models.

In conclusion the points that I agree with are that wealthy people should give some of their money to a chosen charity, that wealthy people should not waste their money or spend too much on one thing, there should be rich people in the world because they worked hard for the money, you should not forget your religion for money and instead of celebrities the Prophet and Jesus should be role models.

I think there is need for world development because in today’s world there is a big split between the wealthy and the poor. The north part of the world has more economically developed countries (MEDCS) and the south part of the world has less economically developed countries (LEDCS)

These third world countries remain undeveloped for a number of reasons, natural disasters are common in LEDCS earthquakes (Tsunami, Asian Earth Quake) floods, droughts etc, so diseases are more common in LEDCS areas but they can’t get much supplies because of the lack of funds.

Most LEDCS have to borrow money from MEDCS to survive, causing debt for the LEDCS.

MEDCS are now trying to help the LEDCS, charities such as TEAR fund campaign for a better life for those in LEDCS. Amities such as wells, schools and hospitals are being built in places such as India to try and improve conditions.

I conclusion I think that Christianity and Islam have similar teachings on wealth and poverty.

        The two religions believe wealth can be good, if used for the right and bad, if used for the wrong (put into the wrong hands). If the wealth is in the wrong persons hand in Christianity they should not buy weapons for terrorists and more. Christians believe that money is needed to provide a decent standard of living, but Christians must make it honestly and use it fairly.

If the wealth is in the wrong persons hand in Islam they should not gamble, drink alcohol or lend and borrow at interest and more. Islam teaches that wealth is something given by God for the benefit of humanity and, therefore, is some thing to be shared.

        Islam and Christianity both believe that poverty is an awful thing and that we all should try and put a stop to it. In Islam Muhammad (SAW) said ‘he is not a believer who eats full while his neighbor remains hungry by his side.’

Christianity teaches us that we should feed that hungry and clothe the naked.

        The bible and the Quran both mention forms of charity, in the Bible it says ‘God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them…..’ In the Quran it says The Quran teaches that those who live on charity spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their lord.

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• Word Count 2534
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• Subject Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

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Wealth and Poverty.

Wealth and poverty

Wealth And Poverty

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Wealth and Poverty Essay Sample

• Topics: Economics
• Date added: May 29, 2020

The divide between wealth and poverty exists both between countries and within countries, and there are a wide range of opinions and judgments surrounding both wealth and poverty. Some people believe that wealth comes to those who dream big and work hard, and blame the poor for their own poverty. Then again, some people judge the wealthy as selfish or unfeeling, and blame them for poverty. Some people believe in fair distribution of wealth and equality of outcome, while others believe that income disparity is normal and the potential for wealth is an incentive. First of all, how are wealth and poverty measured?

Wealth isn’t just about money or status. There are 3 main measures of wealth: income, assets, and socioeconomic factors and quality of life. In developed countries, income inequality is the main division, but in developing countries, it’s more about having access to what we would consider basic necessities, such as indoor plumbing and running water, food, clothes, and maybe even electricity. Access to services like healthcare and education also mean you are well off. Having these things in the developed world, doesn’t necessarily mean you are viewed as wealthy. In fact, you may still be viewed as poor even if you have all of them. Although some people do live in severe poverty in developed countries, there are more services available on the whole, and a higher standard of living. Therefore, the concept of wealth and poverty is relative, and there is room for subjectivity and perspective.

In some cases, however, there is no room for argument or debate, such as people that live on less than $1 a day in the world’s poorest areas. Over 1 billion people worldwide find themselves living under these circumstances, which is regarded as absolute, rather than relative, poverty. This type of poverty is most pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where over 40 percent of the population lives on $1 a day or less. These areas also rank lowest in GDP per capita comparisons, with countries in Africa occupying the bottom 10 places in rankings, and the Democratic Republic of Congo coming in last with a GDP per capita of $365. In contrast, Qatar ranks the highest, with a GDP per capita of over $106,000.

In developed countries, recession and debt are two main concerns. Recession raises unemployment levels and dependence on welfare and benefits, and lowers wealth and quality of life. Debt is also a major concern, with many people resorting to loans and credit cards with high interest rates, which they then can’t afford to pay off. Some people get into a cycle of poverty which is hard to get out of.

The gap between the rich and the poor is something that is continually debated and discussed nationally and internationally. While extremely wealthy donors like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet can play a role in aid efforts and often donate large sums of their wealth to charity, many people argue that it is unfair that they have so much in the first place, while other people have so little. If we simply distributed the money equally, everyone would have enough. But then would there be incentive, innovation and expansion? There is a wealth of opinions and viewpoints but no one perfect solution.

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Wealth and Poverty - Essay Example

• Subject: Geography
• Type: Essay
• Level: Masters
• Pages: 3 (750 words)
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• Author: fbartell

Extract of sample "Wealth and Poverty"

From this study it is clear that underdeveloped nations are those that have poor systems of governance, economic as well as welfare of the people. These countries have poorly developed infrastructure that is essential for economic development, in addition, their education system does not play a major role in empowering its people to be innovative and creative, for this reason, its people live in poverty.According to the report wealth can be defined as the plentiful or abundance of valuable resources and possessions that can be exploited by an individual or a country.

An individual, community, region or country having these resources is said to be wealthy, however, the lack of awareness about the availability of these resources and means to exploit them can leave an individual or that party being dependant. Poverty, in contrast to wealth, means a general scarcity, in this case, it may refer to an individual or state as well. Poverty, just as wealth can also be defined according to the context in which it is being derived, however; there are two main approaches to this issue, it can be absolute or relative poverty.

Absolute poverty can be described as a situation where people in a certain place have minimal or no access to the basic requirements of life, which are; food, shelter and clothing. On the other hand, relative poverty refers to the situation where people are completely barred from taking part in what is considered as a normal and acceptable standard of life in a community or society in general.

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Differences Between Wealth And Poverty

Show More What is wealth and poverty? Poverty is lack of shelter. Wealth is having large mansions. Poverty is staying in hunger. Wealth is going to expensive restaurants to have meals. Poverty is not being able to get proper education due to having difficulty buying books or other essentials needed in order to attend school. Wealth is attending private, expensive colleges or universities. Poverty is having an illness and not being able to see a doctor. Wealth is having private doctors and expensive medical care. Poverty is lack of freedom and being powerless. Wealth is having too much freedom to do anything and having a higher power. In this society people are put in to two groups by measuring how much money they have. People with large amounts of money …show more content… Crime is related to poverty in an enormous way. When people have less money, they tend to commit crimes in order for survival. For example one will break into a shop and steal money in order to buy food or to provide the family with essentials. In this society, people are grouped into two categories. People who has enough money to live a luxury life and people who do not have enough money and is unable to enjoy life or find it very difficult to survive. Although crime is mainly related to poverty, it is also related to the wealthy in a slight way. Most of the time wealthy people commit crimes by using illegal drugs. For a example a wealthy drug addict may spend thousands of dollars in order to get the particular drug illegally. Another difference with the wealthy and the poor is that many wealthy people care less about their families and all they care about is running the business successfully or finding new ways to make more money. Having too much money can take away all the interests in life one day. Wealthy people buy cars, large mansions, private jets and islands. One someday there is not going to be anything interesting they could do, because having too much money had made them do everything they wanted in life in a small period of time. Life becomes boring and many wealthy people are going through depression because of this reason. On the other hand, people in the line of poverty knows the real value of family …show more content… For example, most children in developing countries fall sick more often or die at a very early age because of not having enough money to treat the illness. Education also has a large connection with poverty and wealth. People who finish high school and attend college and live a good life because getting the proper education eventually leads them to obtaining a good degree which results in them finding good jobs that pay well. Having a good income lets people enjoy life with stress free. They are able to afford medicine when having a sickness. Most people who drop out before finishing school end up being poor. This makes them unable to find a job or in many cases end up finding a job that pays less than everyone

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Equality, wealth, and poverty.

• Word Count: 860
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            American culture boasts about equal opportunity. So, people come here to America to obtain this, the American dream. This is but an illusion, this belief builds false expectations, hope. Americans strive for equal opportunity, but this goal is never achieved. People from other nations migrate to America to escape poverty, but just find another form of poverty here. Wealth is achieved through schooling and income equality, through these methods, poverty will be diminished.              Opportunities are not genuinely equal in America; institutions try to create equality with minimal effort. The lack of government policy is what creates inequality. Inequality creates a major gap between the rich and the poor; this is a major economic gap that needs to be dealt with. "The U.S. itself also has the largest gap and inequality between rich and poor compared to all the other industrialized nations" (Shah). Since there is no government policy to stabilize the rise in poverty, other factors help widen the gap that is the shrinking middle class. Factors like corporate greed is a major motivator, people love money and once they have it they want to keep it, wealth is then unequally distributed among employees.              With this greed as a motivator, many production services from the United States move to countries where labor is cheap. "Modern factories often scramble to locate in places where production costs are lowest" (Reich 288). By moving the factories, the jobs and then taken away from people, causing the unemployment rate to go up. To make matters worse it is cheaper to build machines to do the jobs of millions of people, steadily causing the unemployment rate to go up, which goes hand in hand with poverty. All this contributes to the growing gap between the rich and the poor. All these factors have made .              the Americans poverty grow at such a hasty rate. With national wealth comes income equality, and with income equality comes the decrease in poverty.

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Essays Related to Equality, Wealth, and Poverty

1. religious views of wealth and poverty.

Throughout the religious community, teachings on wealth and poverty can be found as an essential part of faith. For example, Christians believe that wealth can be used for good or evil and that wealth alone is not a bad thing. ... Many people may believe that poverty is caused by the rich of the world. ... Others might also believe that if there is supposed to be equality in the world that rich must share everything. Unfortunately, there will never be equality because it is human nature to want the most and the best. ...

• Word Count: 1162
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

2. Steps to Ending Poverty

Poverty cannot be removed from the world. ... Corruption and the greed for power and wealth have always stuttered our effort towards a poverty free world. ... By giving gender equality and empowerment to the females, it contributes more effectively to economic growth and income distribution. ... This can be stated as the worlds 40% of wealth is owned by the 1% of richest people in the world. ... People often forget about poverty as the media glorify wealth. ...

• Word Count: 885
• Approx Pages: 4

3. Equality Has No Standards

For example, we should judge people according to their talents, virtues, physiology, beauty and wealth. ... Some are born with silver spoons in their mouth, while others are brought into a world filled with poverty and misery. ... They are born into a life style and according to their destiny; they are either blessed or deprived of wealth. ... The cup that Aristotle used to measure equality represents material wealth and power. ... We should not only look at the external factors such as wealth, social status and skin color. ...

• Word Count: 1544
• Approx Pages: 6

4. equality

Because the elite is so unwilling to share its wealth. ... Stories such as these, where people become greatly successful despite being born in poverty, has been referred to by many as the American dream. ... In society today equality is not a reality. ... Melvin and Sharprio state that wealth inequality is more lopsided in the U.S. than in Europe. ... Wealth inequality was at a 60 year high in 1989, with the top one percent of U.S. citizens controlling 39 percent of total U.S. household wealth. ...

• Word Count: 2114
• Approx Pages: 8

5. Does Equality Exist is Thailand?

In reality, equality has never existed in Thailand. ... To illustrate, there are merely ten executives in Thailand whose wealth is ranked in The World's Billionaires of 2015, revealed by Forbes. ... Poverty prevents them from life prosperity. ... When an inefficient government manages the country, welfare is not provided directly to grassroots while their wealth increases suspiciously without investigation. ... Equality cannot take place where discrimination remains. ...

• Word Count: 1216
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. A Look at Poverty in America

More and more people are beginning to fall below the poverty line. ... "In 2011, 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty and the nation's official poverty rate was 15 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009, according to the US Census Bureau. ... Equality is one of Americas most cherished values, but you would never think that by the way we treat our poor. There are a good number of millionaires and billionaires in our country, but most of them are too greedy to even think about sharing their wealth with the poor. ... There are many different ways that we change our cultur...

• Word Count: 842

7. Race Class and Gender

Hout and Lucas argue that wealth need to be redistributed so that the huge gap between rich and poor is eliminated. ... However, unions had not been able to obliterate poverty. I believe that he question of poverty is irrelevant to unionization. ... It is a legislature that can stump out poverty by taxing the rich and by socializing other institutions of government to ensure equality across the board. ... The answer is yes, if your want to rid society of poverty. ...

• Word Count: 858

Sadly, this is a typical life for someone living in poverty. ... It is commonly known that poverty causes poor health. ... Health and education are key to any economy or nation to grow and be strong, both of these suffer issues of access, equality, and pressure to cut back ("Poverty Around-). ... They think the condition of poverty is complex and should be not thought of as a simple solution with a simple problem ("Poverty Fact-). ... One in every five people suffers from debilitating poverty in the world today ("Poverty Perspectives-). ...

• Word Count: 2145
• Approx Pages: 9

9. New Deal vs. Share Our Wealth

In response to the economic devastation, political economic platforms based on theories as diverse as Herbert Hoover's relatively laissez-faire economic handling to extreme Utopian schemes to achieve total economic equality amongst the citizens of the nation began to emerge. ... Long's "Share Our Wealth" clubs gained significant popular support in the 1930s. ... Long's approach to resolving the issues of the Great Depression, called "Share Our Wealth" clubs, was the establishment of upper and lower limits on personal wealth. ... Frustrated with poverty of the masses w...

• Word Count: 1142

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• About the focus groups
• Participant recruitment procedures
• Moderator and interpreter qualification
• Data analysis
• Sample design
• Data collection
• Weighting and variance estimation
• Analysis of Asians living in poverty

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. The Center’s Asian American portfolio was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from The Asian American Foundation; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Henry Luce Foundation; the Doris Duke Foundation; The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Long Family Foundation; Lu-Hebert Fund; Gee Family Foundation; Joseph Cotchett; the Julian Abdey and Sabrina Moyle Charitable Fund; and Nanci Nishimura.

We would also like to thank the Leaders Forum for its thought leadership and valuable assistance in helping make this survey possible.

The strategic communications campaign used to promote the research was made possible with generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation.

This data essay was written by Neil G. Ruiz, head of new research initiatives, and Ziyao Tian, research associate.

The essay, the accompanying short film and its corresponding digital features were produced by Shannon Greenwood, digital production manager. The communications and outreach strategy for the data essay, as well as editorial advice on all accompanying research products, was provided by Hannah Klein, senior communications manager, with help from Tanya Arditi, senior communications manager. Creative direction and editorial advice for the short film was provided by Kim Arias, video lead.

Many individuals contributed to this study’s design, data collection and methodology. Ruiz and Research Associate Luis Noe-Bustamante led the development of the focus groups. Ruiz, Tian, Noe-Bustamante and Research Assistant Carolyne Im facilitated the fielding of the focus groups. The authors are grateful to former interns Dan Jacobi and Sophie Yap for coding the transcripts and to temporary Research Associate Abby Budiman, former research interns Rachel Chen and Joanne Hanner, Im, and Research Assistant Mohamad Moslimani for helping with research analysis. Pew Research Center is also grateful to Shawnna Mullenax and André Sanabia Johnston from PSB Insights and to Grace Chiu and Patrick Cahill from GC Global for their many contributions to this project.

The 2022-23 Asian American survey and the subsequent reports from it would not be possible without Ashley Amaya, associate director of survey methods, who designed the survey’s methodology, managed the long fielding period with Westat and helped with the questionnaire development. The entire survey project was expertly managed by Noe-Bustamante. Noe-Bustamante also managed a team that carried out the survey’s data processing and included Budiman, Im, Research Methodologist Arnold Lau and former Research Assistant Lauren Mora.

Ruiz and former Research Associate Sunny Shao led the development of the survey questionnaire with help from Amaya, Research Associate Khadijah Edwards, Moslimani, Mora and Noe-Bustamante. Senior Demographer Jeffrey Passel provided advice on the demographic analysis. Pew Research Center is also grateful to Westat’s Mike Brick, Ismael Flores Cervantes, Eric Jodts and Hanna Popick for their many contributions to this project.

Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research, provided editorial guidance over the project, including the survey questionnaire, essay and related products. Sahana Mukherjee, associate director of race and ethnicity research, and Senior Writer Jens Manuel Krogstad provided editorial guidance. The essay was number-checked by Im. Senior Copy Editor David Kent copy edited the essay.

The charts were designed by Tian and Im, with help from Information Graphics Designer John Carlo Mandapat and Associate Director of Digital Production Peter Bell. Illustrations were designed by Jing Li, freelance illustrator.

Pew Research Center is grateful to a panel of expert advisers who provided advice at all stages of this project’s development: Janelle Wong, Professor of American Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland; Yến Lê Espiritu, Distinguished Professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, San Diego; Devesh Kapur, Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Anthony Christian Ocampo, Professor of Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Karthick Ramakrishnan, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside; and Yang Sao Xiong, Assistant Professor at College of Social Sciences at California State University, Fresno.

Find related reports online at  www.pewresearch.org/AsianAmericans .

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