Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Poverty, money, and wealth.

Poverty and wealth have something thing in common, money.
"In 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%:"

Over three billion people live on less than $2.50 [1]. So obviously about half the world's population have a wage that most or all would say leads to poverty. Imagine such a situation. Electricity, food, water... would need to come from the government or businesses with cheap products. Anyone would be poor on such a wage. A poor lifestyle, a poor education, and no goals. Has it every occurred to anyone that a poor person is underpaid? A response could be that it is a job that simply does pay well, or they shouldn't be paid more. In response to the first claim, I agree that they are underpaid by anyone's standards. Ask yourself, is $2.50 fit your standards? And the second point: they should not be paid more, is an opinion, that misses the point that poverty is being underpaid. Whether its good, bad, or whatever has no bearing. Being poor is a result of being underpaid. Therefore: to end poverty could result, by definition, if everyone was paid enough to cover all living expenses, e.g. food, water, electricity etc... that is required to live. Other obvious points include, education, clothing, transportation, counseling/mentoring, internet, and homes.