A World That is in the Bondage of Poverty
Change takes time but there is a vicious cycle
No one wants to be poor. No one wants to be without the necessities of life. Being poor is sometimes not an option. Some people are victims of circumstances and lose all the wealth they have. Some people misuse the opportunities they get in life and lose everything to have nothing. There are a few people who learn from their mistakes and turn their lives around and proceed to ensure that they and their families are provided for in life and poverty is not an option. The World Bank Organization describes poverty as “Poverty is hunger.”
Millions are poor in the world, having been born poor and due to the vicious cycles in the modern world, with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. As a result of being poor, they do not get a proper education, they are physically and mentally broken. These unfortunate souls take up vices like gambling and drugs, having fallen into phases of melancholy and depression. Several individuals who are in this cycle of poverty develop mental health issues and are prone to suicidal tendencies. Do we blame society for this or do we blame the individual?
Some people prefer living beyond their means, with the bravado attitude of “live today and tomorrow will take care of itself”. On the other hand, there are more serious individuals who “save the pennies, to make the pounds”.
``If you look after the pennies, the dollars look after themselves’’ — J. Paul Getty
Not many people are savers. The result of spending everything earned is that by the middle of the month, the salary is over. It is then that people start to borrow and before long, they are in debt. Living beyond one’s means, in order to keep up with the Joneses, does result in debt, and eventually leads into the dark and descending slide into the crevasse of poverty.
Our world is bound by the golden chains of poverty. There are large parts of the world, that are still economically backward. Aid is rushed to all those countries that need the money in order to feed their nations. It is a challenge that cannot be won, because the more aid given, the more demand for yet more aid to be received. Financial and economic experts all debate this issue throughout the year.
The fear of becoming poor is a real fear, especially in the present when the world is unstable and no one’s job is secure for life. The world is changing. The fabric of our lives, our work and living lifestyles, is undergoing large and dramatic changes. A major part of this progress is caused by artificial intelligence. However, we must remember, that although we as human beings are racing towards progress, with the help of new and more sophisticated economic structures, we need to allow the fruits of those endeavours, to spread across the human race.
Budgeting is always so important, for nations, companies and for individuals in their lives. Some families know how to budget, while others believe in splurging every day, till the cash runs out very soon. Children and parents buy the latest clothes, accessories and gadgets, even if it means maxing out their credit cards. The illusion is that the money spent is “free money”, so when the bill has to be paid, at the end of the month, there is no money left. This results in a large debt, that can never be paid in a person’s lifetime. The person is forced to declare bankruptcy and is then free or the ultimate sacrifice of death frees them from the yoke of debt.
Children learn from their parents is very true. Parents are the first members of society whom children relate to and can identify with in life. If the parents are misers or sensible managers of the family budget, the children follow their example. My parents were careful with money and did not live beyond their means and we cut our coats according to our collar. I have therefore never had the desire to buy the latest gadgets, just because my peers or neighbours had them.
I have seen poverty, in the area where I lived as a child. I grew up in a lower-middle-class family. My dad worked hard and did three different jobs, to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. My mother was a housewife when my sister and I were growing up. She did part-time work as a teacher and she took care of the home and family. Times were tough and as my dad earned a small salary, my mother did her best to prepare the best simple and nourishing food that she could for her family. As we grew up, life became a bit easier and dad continued doing three jobs, while mother worked as a teacher and gave children tuition.
At seventeen, I got a job as an interpreter and pharmacy assistant, giving medicines and clothes to poor people visiting the dispensary in the city of Calcutta. I worked for the social service organisation for two and a half years and saw ill people and poor people, who visited the city for medical aid, food and financial assistance. It was heart-wrenching to see starving babies, and helpless women tortured and scarred by their in-laws, when they did not receive enough dowry, from the girl’s family. It was sad to see young people, suffering from heart disease. I was also witness to so many other diseases faced by poor people, who suffered and got the disease, due to poor living conditions, bad habits and lack of jobs and money.
“As long as poverty, injustice, and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” — Nelson Mandela
We need to crush the disease of poverty. It needs to be instilled in the minds of young people that work is important and money needs to be used wisely. Parents need to be good examples to their children. It is not enough to earn money, the way we spend money is equally important. Every individual needs to take a stand against poverty. I always say that poverty should not exist in the 21st century, not in the time of advancement and achievements in so many fields of human endeavour. We must all make a firm stand to help others to keep away from the claws of poverty. Teaching a man or woman to fish, is better than giving them fish.
Society, in the form of governments and educational institutions, needs to help people face the reality that honest work is important to support ourselves and our families. Every person needs the tools and guidance on how they can face and overcome the challenges life throws at them to defeat poverty. A poor person is not lazy, he or she in most cases did not get the best opportunities in life, due to a lack of proper education or also due to illness. The best good a person can do for another is to assist them to get out of the pit of poverty.
“It is true that global wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities have also grown, and new poverty has arisen.” — Pope Francis
Poverty goes beyond, food, shelter, money and clothing. There is also spiritual poverty, when people do not turn to the spiritual part of the universe for guidance and prayer, as they are too busy being materialistic. Does poverty cause humility and does humility bring about spirituality? It is possible, that the poor are stronger in faith and hope as they believe that circumstances will change and that God will intervene, which does happen.
Fill your heart with kindness and goodness towards yourself and towards the world, its people and creation. This will enable you to be a spiritually richer individual. Greed is bad and it does result in one becoming spiritually poor.
Poverty exists in the world, as it has for centuries. However, with the advancements made in science, technology and almost every field of human endeavour, poverty can be eradicated, if we all take responsibility, from our world leaders to our educators, to our parents, and we as individuals. How can we speak about AI taking over the world, when we as human beings are breaking our world every day into fragments, by allowing poverty to exist, for children to go hungry, for women to be trafficked, for drugs to destroy lives and for people to take their lives under the burden of debt and high expectations from society and its archaic societal norms.
There is also the “poverty of thought”. There is an abundance in the quantity of thoughts being expressed in the world, yet the quality of those thoughts is not great. Delusions in the form of fixed and false beliefs exist among individuals, and cannot be changed even when they are presented with facts, as they are outside their cultural and religious beliefs or ways of thinking. A poor mind, will not allow an individual to rise above the “poverty mindset”.
“Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being.” — Amartya Sen
A child born poor will not always be poor if there is something in his or her spirit, that dives them to make a difference and to want to have a better life. Again, it is luck, divine intervention and a twist of faith, that can make that individual a prosperous person.
A child may be born rich, but if he or she does not appreciate the wealth that is around them, they squander it all and end up with nothing. However, there are those children who grow up rich, yet they are aware that they are blessed and use their fortune to make a difference in the lives of others, by being philanthropic.
Hunger, poverty, scarcity and lack of opportunities can break a person. Those people can be allowed to shine, and change their lives if given the assistance and guidance they need to stay away from the poverty line. I can only wish that our civilization’s greatest triumphs are the eradication of poverty, hunger, wars and lack of resources in a few years and not advancements in science and technology and development in AI. Even if we travel to the stars, we have not succeeded in our greatest challenge, which is overcoming the monster of poverty.
I end with a sensitive question, “What separates you from poverty?”. It could be your circumstances, like your career, your opportunities, your location, family, friends, your beliefs, your motivation, or inspiration and it could be luck, that separates you from the next poor person you see on the street.
I highly recommend these writers who have written some amazing stories on “Poverty”.
The Flying Colors Of Poverty
A Free Verse Poemmedium.com
Poverty Is A Killer
As much as a person with a knife or a gun can bemedium.com
A LESSON IN HUMILITY
In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 4 of Life Columnmedium.com
Define A Hero
Ans. Everyone's definition will be different.medium.com
Challenging situation for people who are in poverty, limited income or homeless they just eat…
gkorosi75.medium.com
On World Entrepreneurs’ Day let’s equip entrepreneurs in developing countries to end poverty
Meredith Scott, CEO, Opportunity International Australiamedium.com
