Opinion

Poverty

Rightly said by James Baldwin,

'Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be a poor.' 

Ask a destitute with dreary face, needy eyes, woven lips, immolated dreams and thirsty soul, ask them about life, ask them about their hopes. One can be a saint to offer them food and soon a communist for questioning why don't they have any food.

The world is severly under the grisly shadow of this disease as 1.7 billion people all over the world are living under absolute poverty, where they are unable to afford basic human needs which commonly includes nutrition, clothing, shelter, fresh water and heathcare. It has devoured people's living standards and molested their right to live with pride today as a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It is because of the very intrinsic meaning of this one word 'poverty' that has caused 1/3rd of total deaths all over the world.

According to a WHO survey 1.1 billion children succumbed to death because of hunger. The effects of poverty are so wide that a complete section like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are classified as poorest regions with 41% and 31% poverty (2008) respectively.
                            
If actually modernization of agriculture, industrial revolution and mass production in factories are serving as major factors for reduction of poverty, then why are 100million children living on streats worldwide? Why has the living condition aggravated from bad to worse in Africa? Why are the rural tribes of Nigeria using barbaric modes to survive?  A day in a year is special to every child, that is the day of his/her birth, but how many of us care about those 1million every year who die because poverty hits thier faces too hard to ever allow them open their eyes.

The question here arises that if poverty reduction is a stringent goal and issue for major international organizations such as U.N. and World Bank then why are the rich getting richer and poor, poorer. Can this be called an inefficiency to provide remittance or inability to understand the very nature of the grim reality 40% of the world is living in. It is because of this lack of understanding that there is a wall of status that undermines the urge to fight the challenge.
                          
According to Oliver Goldsmith, "Laws grind the poor and rich man rule the law'. Is this why almost 90% of maternal deaths in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 1% in the developed world. Can the international organizations, government, political system, policy makers and the ones who rule the law be blamed for condition that regions like Asia and Africa are facing today?
       
The irony is that the ones who sing the prophecy of equal rights and equal opportunities are the ones who frame term like 'Fourth world' exclusively for LEDCs i.e lowest economicaly developed countries. The truth is that no one shares a piece of bread unless assured of two. Be it an individual or a county the condition lies the same. I would like to conclude with the wise question, that soldiers of second world war sang:

She was poor but she was honest,
victim of a rich man's game..
first he loved her, then he left her,
and she lost her maiden name..
it's the same the whole world over,
it's the poor wot who gets the blame,
it's the rich  wot who gets the gravy,
ain' t it all a bleeding shame?
 

20-Jan-2012

More by :  Anushree Pal


Top | Opinion

Views: 3566      Comments: 2



Comment i received same suggestions from my mentors as well. Will surely look forward to it. thanks.

odyssey
23-Jan-2012 08:36 AM

Comment Well written. Passionately articulated.

I will suggest that take additional time to write a follow through. Analyze the infrastructure of Poverty. How it works? Who are the participants? Who are the victims? Who are the beneficiaries? What drives each to do what they do? And finally, what can be done about it? Most importantly - what can each of us do to eradicate poverty?

This is just a suggestion. I share your passion about the ills of poverty. I am sure so do millions of others. The burning question is do we have a complete understanding of the problem and do we have a personal role in its solution?

drgopalsingh
22-Jan-2012 22:04 PM




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