Discussion: Poverty and Inequality in the World
When we think of poverty, we mainly think about poorly struck countries like Nigeria and even the Philippines. However, we mostly do not think about poverty rising in first and second-world countries. To start the discussion, we must first ask,
What is Poverty?
Poverty is a state condition that is nothing unfamiliar to the contemporary world. It is characterized by whether a person or a certain community lacks basic living necessities and is financially scarce, which is often from the cause of low income.
We frequently see them in both rural and urban areas. Some are hidden away from the public eye, while others are seen within proximity from modern society.
However, if we dig deeper into the topic of poverty and inequality as a whole, we realize that low-income is not the only common source of poverty. So,
What are the key trends in global poverty and inequality?
There two main key trends we discussed in our GEWORLD course, which are mainly Globalization and Capitalism. We know these are fundamental factors in creating a globally challenging arena in the 21st century, especially in terms of minimum wages, job offers, including how society works altogether.
Well, this is because both Globalization and Capitalism have their pros and cons. Cons being an increasing rise in the poverty line in countries around the world. With both creating an increase in part-time job opportunities for others, it also decreases the chance for a bigger scale to work in factories and companies due to the continuous rise of technology.
In Capitalism, control made by the higher powers and private owners continues to surge throughout the economy and labor work. Although its main motive is to create and make a profit, labor plays a huge role in turning these ideas into action. It is a sad fact, however, that this is often abused and vilified by huge companies resulting in a rise of low-income wages and human rights violations in poverty-stricken areas.
This allows us to question: Does Capitalism eliminate or enforce inequality?
As mentioned beforehand, Capitalism plays a significant role in enforcing inequality in both rich and poor countries. It is entirely ironic to assume it helps eliminate inequality when oftentimes it is the main source. This is because Capitalism fails to do what is expected from it which mainly cares for the people in its economy than being swiveled by personal selfish interests made by the capitalist mindset.
The elimination of barriers in social injustice made by unbridled Capitalism has been an ongoing issue since the very start of capitalism which continues to surge throughout the world, increasing the rise of inequality in terms of living conditions, labor wages, and even discrimination. This however varies in several aspects and global situations that often have a lot to do with globalization as well.
This leads us to the question: Has globalization increased, or decreased global poverty?
With the information at hand, it is somehow debatable whether globalization has affected poverty in a broad sense. According to Yale Insights (2009), it has been virtually impossible to find cases of poor countries that were able to grow over long periods of time without opening up to trade which says: we have no evidence that trade leads to the decline of growth in countries and its rise poverty.
Each case varies from different countries and their economic standing. Research suggests that trade reforms are oftentimes more beneficial in more educated countries than in less educated ones.
In conclusion, it doesn't necessarily mean that greater inequality equates to greater poverty. There are several factors to be considered to determine and discover sufficient evidence in regards to this matter.
Sources
Pavcnik, N. (2009, April 28). How has globalization benefited the poor?Retrieved from Yale Insights website: https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how-has-globalization-benefited-the-poor#:~:text=Economic%20growth%20is%20the%20main,living%20standards%20tend%20to%20increase.&text=And%20we%20have%20no%20evidence,poverty%20and%20declines%20in%20growth.
Tuca Vieira. (2017, November 29). Inequality … in a photograph. Retrieved from the Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/29/sao-paulo-injustice-tuca-vieira-inequality-photograph-paraisopolis
Hausmann, R. (2015, August 21). Does capitalism cause poverty? Retrieved from World Economic Forum website: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/does-capitalism-cause-poverty/