Poverty Everywhere Is a Threat to Prosperity Anywhere

Instructions

 First understand topic in its entirety (don’t just focus on the word – Poverty). Take your time to
think over keywords (Poverty vs Prosperity) in the topic. Read topic 3-4 times, and while
reading the topic keep thinking of related examples/instances – temporally and spatially.
 Once you understand topic, write 2-3 lines on rough paper your interpretation of topic in as
simple words as possible. Read this interpretation 2-3 times and again look at the topic. This is
important because you should not deviate at any cost in your essay.
 Then brainstorm on the topic – here, don’t write everything you know. Instead focus only on
key dimensions and examples that you want to include. Create a mind map kind of structure.
 Start this essay (introduction) with powerful/impactful stat. Or with a quotes taken from
important report.
 In the introduction, compulsorily contextualise this topic i.e. why this topic is important or
relevant today- both globally and in the Indian context.
 After writing context, write few lines about the topic and its general meaning. Then, write briefly
about important dimensions that you want to include in the essay (or you may write about
most important dimension if you don’t want to reveal all)
 After introduction, write a thesis statement stating what’s going to be your central argument
and how you are going to defend it (in 2-3 lines)
 In the body, identify 6-7 broad dimensions related to the topic such as: Poverty vs
Security (Wars, civil wars, drug wars, insurgency, terrorism, extremism, radicalism,
communalism, genocides, ethnic cleansing etc); Poverty vs Diseases (AIDS, Ebola, Zika,
West Nile, Malarial, TB etc); Poverty vs Environment (loss of habitat, loss of vegetation –
associated natural disasters, desertification etc); Poverty vs Inequality; Poverty vs Food
security etc.
 While writing various dimensions, make sure they are relevant to the topic in question. Don’t
deviate. Link arguments to support the topic. Also don’t forget to write your own thoughts about
each dimensions (this part where you write your interpretation is key to fetch more marks in
essay). For every argument, give examples, or illustrate with suitable illustrations such as
stories, fables etc. Also make sure to interlink sub-dimensions within each dimension. There
should be linkages between different dimensions as well.
 Use stats and data to support or validate your statements/arguments.
 Also try to include other dimensions such as where poverty has led to revolutions and in turn
prosperity to nations.
 Other dimensions could be – intellectual poverty, moral poverty (in addition to material
poverty) – their impact on prosperity.
 Make your essay engaging and interesting by giving interesting examples from world history,
sociology, anthropology etc. (Always think of unique examples or stories or anecdotes)
 In the conclusion provide more optimistic future of the world where poverty can be eradicated
(may be with the advent of machines, or with revolutions – use your imagination).
 Go beyond India and make your essay universal.

Outline:
o What is Poverty?
o How does poverty threaten prosperity?
o Some instances of poverty threatening prosperity
o How can we solve this problem?
o Conclusion
o \
o
What is Poverty?
Saving our planet and lifting people out of poverty --- they are one and the same fight"
- Ban Ki Moon, ex- General Secretary, UN.

This statement carries a simple yet a very powerful message that the biggest challenge to the future of human
civilization comes from poverty.

The main goal of the World Bank Organization is to eradicate poverty. It interestingly
describes poverty as:

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being
able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to
read. Poverty is not having a job; it is fear for the future, living one day at a time.”

If you try to understand the depth of these words, you will be able to comprehend
what poverty exactly means. The minimum income level (also known as the
international poverty line) is set at $2.15 a day. If a person’s income falls beneath
this line, he/she is considered poor.

However, as stated by the World Bank Organization, poverty is not solely defined by
the income level. It depends on multiple factors like unemployment, overpopulation,
poor utilization of resources, education, etc. It is a slow poison that eats away the
foundation of our society.

Poverty can be measured either in absolute terms, for example, the number of
those who cannot afford more than two pairs of shoes, or in relative terms, for
example, the number of the poorest ten percent of house-holds. In either sense it is
a concept, which is defined arbitrarily. Poverty exists not only because incomes are
low, but also because the needs of certain low income households are high.

How does poverty threaten prosperity?

“Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere.” This
statement was quoted by Kofi Annan, who was the seventh Secretary-General of the
United Nations. It means the same as our above mentioned phrase.

Prosperity means having a comfortable and peaceful life. And poverty has always
been a barrier to achieving this. Poverty is capable of driving people towards
insanity. It tortures them with hunger and humiliation. It creates imbalance and
keeps the social disorder alive. People stricken with poverty are forced to adopt
unfair means for their survival. They steal resources from the wealthy and
prosperous people. This endangers our entire society.

Poverty and Disease

AIDS originated in poverty stricken Africa. The poor countries in Africa did not have the resources to conduct
research or identify and restrict the disease in time. Ultimately AIDS spread to such proportions that it became a
threat and challenge to people across the globe. Today UN and rich countries have to spend billions of dollars
worldwide in treatment and containment of AIDS.

Further, In the age of global air travel, when trillions of passenger kilometres are flown every year, it is easy to see
how an infectious disease -- whether avian flu or Ebola or SARS - originating in a country having poor early warning
and response mechanisms could easily become worldwide epidemic and threaten the lives of masses much beyond
its borders.

Hence Prosperity no longer offers a safety from disease and epidemic which emerges from distant poverty stricken
areas.

Poverty and environment

In her speech at the first Global Conference on Human environment, Indira Gandhi famously asked “Aren’t poverty
and need the biggest polluters?". The answer was a resounding yes. The world thought so then. The world knows it
even better now, after more than four and a half decades of experience since the Stockholm Conference.

Global warming and climate change posses an ever increasing threat to the whole world today. Unfortunately,
poverty essentially promotes the practices that cause threat to environmental sustainability. And this makes
poverty the biggest polluter because the poor do not have the resources to shift to cleaner technologies and
practices. For all practical purposes hunger takes away the choice from them. After all, when survival for the day is
the priority, and at times just a probability, issues like environmental sustainability and global warming become
absolutely meaningless.

Just for an example, the excessive deforestation of Amazon river and Congo river basins is damaging biodiversity at
dangerous pace and contributing to global warming. The extreme poverty in that area ensures that the local people
don’t have choice of having any other source of livelihood except exploiting natural forest reserves. The story is the
same for many poverty stricken regions in the world.

However, the effects of damage to biodiversity and the effects of global warming go beyond these regions. The
resulting climate change does not stop at the borders of Congo or even Africa. For example, for the first time in
history ,the western european nations faced a heat wave this year as a result of global warming and the
consequent climate change.

Hence, the cause may lie in any of the poverty stricken areas of the world , but the sufferings of global warming will
be borne by all. The affects are to be shared by both -the poor and the prosperous , and so is the future of earth.
And it goes without saying, when there is no earth to live, there is no prosperity left to be protected.
Some instances of poverty threatening prosperity
An excellent example of how poverty anywhere threatens prosperity everywhere is
North Korea. As an aftermath of the Second World War, Korea was divided into two
parts: North and South Korea. South Korea adopted a system of democracy as the
government. In due course of time, it became one of the most developed nations in
Asia.

On the other hand, North Korea adopted a dictatorial regime (which it still follows).
People of North Korea are subjected to barbaric conditions (way different than
people living in South Korea). They lack basic human rights, deal with socio-
economic issues, and live under extreme conditions of poverty.

The world we live in is like a globalised village, where all of us are part of a big
community. The actions of one country will most definitely affect other countries.
Hence, the eradication of poverty is a necessity in our current conditions. It is, in
fact, one of the goals of Sustainable Development.

CRIMES

"Poverty is the mother of crime and revolution", said Aristotle.

Small examples of the ruthless pirates of Somalia or even the common fact that urban crime is often
located in areas of high poverty, are all symptoms of the malady of poverty. Poverty not only creates
wide-ranging economic difficulties, but it also fuels a social and/or political unrest, which is set off by the
overpowering instinct for individuals to fulfil their basic needs or what the political thinker, Thomas Hobbes
locates in man’s inherent need for ‘self-preservation’.

SOCIAL DESCRIMINATION/ INEQUITY

Karl Marx’s famous evaluation of capitalist structures also has time and again highlighted how
in perpetuating systems of inequality, capitalism ensures that some will always remain subservient to
those who own capital or private property, which will be convinced to accept low wages. This condition
creates the grounds for revolution, as observed in the context of communism in Russia, an example of
inevitable strife that results from an imbalance of power. In his one of his most films, ‘Modern Times’,
Charlie Chaplin’s character offers a sharp critique of the crippling effects of industrialisation, in which the
workers, who are treated as ‘cogs in a wheel’ are always made worse off by the system. That is not to say
that capitalism itself is responsible for poverty- for, a novel approach to capitalism has emerged which
propagates what is called as ‘conscious capitalism’. It is a system in which the institutions and
stakeholders take into consideration the global supply chain and the communities it inevitably affects,
providing a compassionate touch to doing business, with an enlightened self-interest at its core.
Thus, coexisting extremities ranging from astute poverty to unbound prosperity, act as a primer for
reinforcing multi-layered and forms an interconnected web of social dysfunctionality’s, which almost never
occur in isolation . These can of enhance the social distance between the have’s and the have- not’s,
increases social tensions, which disrupts their integration due to a misplaced emphasis attributed to only
individual status, provides a hindrance to social mobility, propagates social evils of oppression and
domination, leads to overall economic stagnation, and reflects a poor quality of social relations. All of the
social complexities pointed above lead to a pervasive deficit of trust amongst various social groups,
spawning discontentment and thereby threatening the nation’s prosperity.

POLITICAL CHOAS
The factors above form conditions for impending chaos, radicalisation, uncontrolled violence and
instability, which we can understand through the case of the Arab spring, where in revolts started in
sprouts, emanating from citizens facing a high scarcity of jobs and a fragmented economy. These political
tensions and living in sustained inequality also have far-reaching consequences when we talk in terms of
the mental and physical health of the deprived- as it leads to their anxieties, diminished cognitive
enrichment, nutritional deprivation, and chronic stress. This makes them vulnerable, volatile and
socially insecure, undermining the maintenance of order in the society. This thought process viciously
feeds upon itself, for the poor internalise their failings and accept these glaring, socio-economic and
psychological inadequacies as a part of their lives- solidifying their overall inertia for change/ social
mobility.

Poverty Vs Prosperity:

If prosperity in life leads to a state of being, of self-contentment in life, at the same time,

poverty in one’s life leads to a certain feeling of voidness in his/her life. In this way, the state

of being of a person in poverty is just the reverse of that person who is in a state of

prosperity. The voidness created in one’s life due to poverty stings that particular person to

take the path of anti-social activities in his/ her life. Sometimes this anarchic and anti-social

activities of a poor person which are activities done to appease his thirst and hunger of that

particular person creates due to his such activities anarchy on the society. The greatest

fallout of such anti-social activities is the creation of a diabolic society, a diabolic society

which engulfs one and all of our society irrespective of rich or poor of the society.

Conclusion
There is a very beautiful saying that goes like this: “In the well-being of each lies the
well-being of the whole.” Of course, this ancient proverb cannot be argued within
any form or way. This is because of a very simple reason.

We can compare this to our bodies. Our body is made up of several organs that
work together to form multiple systems. Each system corresponds with the others to
ensure the proper functioning of the whole body. So if any of these systems is not
fine, as a result, our body would not be fine. But there is a silver lining in this too. If
the nervous system were to recognize the poor condition of the other systems and
make amends to help it, the whole body would survive.

Likewise, if one family or class suffers under any condition, the whole country will
shut down. However, the prosperous people can be generous and make actual
efforts to help the poor. This will ensure a change in the condition of our lives. And
our world would be supreme.

In a nutshell, poverty itself is a threat for the whole society in general, mainly due to two

reasons. Firstly, it is due to the effect that poverty creates on the psyche of the poor person

and secondly, this diabolic psyche has a wholesome effect on the all-round development of

that particular society. This is particularly because the path that sometimes taken by the

poverty-stricken person which is mainly a path of anti-social activities. As crimes are mainly

perpetrated on those who are wealthy and prosperous, therefore, this state of poverty most

of the times blossoms as a threat to the whole society as a whole and the prosperous

sections of the society in particular. All these facts again speak in volumes that ‘poverty

anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere’.

We must also be wary of the covert forces and institutional disequilibrium’s that legitimise systems of

hierarchy. And our policies must reflect the same- they must be coupled along with systemic reforms in

the major sectors of education and healthcare to generate a holistic system of welfare. There is also a

need to set up robust models of good-governance which integrate policies that aim toward an equitable

distribution of resources, that cuts across shackles of caste class or gender and can effectively reach
out to the most marginalised sections. In order to improve social relationships, paving the path to a more

tolerant and inclusive society, the youth of the nation, especially, can act as catalysts in the fight for a

prosperous society, free from the many perils of poverty. This would be a step in the right direction to

creatively align our development agenda with the objective that drives the overall well-being of the

population- a population that doesn’t just survive, but thrives

Poverty in Pakistan Context (National Level)

Poverty has emerged as the most important issue for Pakistan.

ECONOMIC WOE

Poverty redressal requires economic growth accompanied by an improvement in

access to social services. The reason that economic growth has failed to trickle

down to the poor in Pakistan is the slow improvement in social indicators Economic

growth and social sector development are interdependent as one reinforces the

other. In fact economic growth is necessary for poverty reduction but poverty

reduction itself is necessary for sustained growth.

The estimates of poverty are not consistent in Pakistan. According to caloric based
(2250 calories per person), the incidence of poverty declined sharply from 46.5
percent in 1969-70 to 17.3 percent in 1987-88. However, poverty increased
significantly in 1990’s rising from 17.3 percent in 1987-88 to 22.4 percent in 1992-
93 and further to 31 percent in 1996-97. The recent estimates suggest that poverty
has further increased from 32.6 percent in 1998-99 to 33.50 percent in 1999-2000.
This shows that the incidence of poverty has increased in 1990’s. Similar trends
have been observed in the case of urban and rural poverty. The main reasons for
increase in poverty during 1990’s can be attributed to the relatively lower rate of
economic growth, rising unemployment, stagnant real wages, declining flow of
worker’s remittances and bad governance. In addition to the factors mentioned
above the high population growth also puts pressure on the meagre social services
thereby causing social distress.

National Economic development is central to success in poverty alleviation. But

poverty is an outcome of more than economic processes. It is an outcome of
economic, social and political processes. To attack poverty requires action at local,
national and global levels. The following actions are required to be taken by poor
people, government, private sector and civil society organizations.

Growth is essential for expanding economic opportunities for the poor. The question
is how to achieve rapid, sustainable and pro-poor growth. A business environment
conducive to private investment and technological innovation is necessary, as is
political and social stability to invite public and private investment.

The poor should be empowered in the true sense. Empowerment means enhancing
the capacity of the poor to influence the states institutions that affect their lives by
strengthening their participation in political process, and local decision-making. It
also means removing the barriers political, legal and social that work against
particular groups and building the assets of poor people to enable them to engage
effectively in markets.

Enhancing security for poor people which means reducing their vulnerability to such
risks as ill health, economic shocks and natural disasters and helping them cope
with adverse shocks when they occur.

The ultimate cause of the unequal distribution of personal incomes in most third
world countries is the unequal and highly concentrated patterns of asset ownership
(wealth). The principal reason why less than 20 percent of their population receives
over 50 percent of the national income is that this 20 percent probably owns ad
controls over 90 percent of the productive and financial resources, especially
physical capital and land but also financial capital (stocks and bonds) and human
capital in the form of better education. It follows that perhaps more important line
of policy to reduce poverty and inequality is to focus directly on reducing the
concentrated control of assets, the unequal distribution of power, unequal access to
education and income earning opportunities.

Policies to enforce progressive rates of direct taxation on income especially at the

highest levels are, what are most needed in this area of redistribution activity.
Unfortunately, in many developing countries the rich do not show a larger part of
their income and assets. Further, they often also have the power and ability to
avoid paying taxes without the fear of government.

Pakistan is facing twin challenges of reviving growth and reducing poverty. This
requires rapid economic growth keeping in view the factors responsible for slow
growth and rising poverty, the government has formulated a comprehensive
economic revival programme aimed at reviving economic growth and social
development. The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to promote
pro-poor economic growth and reduce poverty.
Engendering growth by correcting macroeconomic imbalances and stabilizing the
economy has been made the central pillar of the government’s economic revival
programme. The government has adopted a sound macroeconomic framework
aimed at both stabilizing the economy and stimulating growth. It comprises five
building blocks namely tax reforms, expenditure management, prudent monetary
policy, external adjustment and debt management.

Implementing broad based governance reforms are essential ingredients of the

government’s poverty alleviation strategy. Without governance reforms the
enormous task of reviving growth and reducing poverty cannot be addressed.
Sagging growth and rising poverty are in part results of the poor performance of
the government institutions in Pakistan. In fact, poverty in Pakistan is not merely
an outcome of economic ills but also a result of mis-governance over the past
years. The main element of reforms are devolution of power at grass roots level,
civil services reforms, access to justice and financial transparency.

The care principle of Pakistan’s poverty alleviation strategy is to empower the

people and to create greater opportunities for increasing real income by improving
access to productive assets mainly housing, land and credit. Access to credit is the
surest way of empowering the poor and improving their income generating
opportunities. In addition to the already existing financial institution, the
government has now established the “Khushhali Bank” or “Micro Finance Bank” for
the provision of micro credit to poor communities.

The effects of sluggish economic growth are clearly reflected in Pakistan’s

performance in the social sectors; Human development is essential for attracting
investment and generating the capacity for future sustainable growth. Pakistan’s
progress on almost every social indicator e.g. education, health and nutrition is
poor as compared with that of other developing countries. In order to address this
situation, the government has prepared comprehensive human development
strategies aimed at the effective utilization of the available resources through
improved institutional mechanisms.

The government’s key social safety net for reducing vulnerability to exogenous
shocks is the reformed system of Zakat and Usher. The system of collection and
distribution of Zakat has recently been reorganized. However, its potential and
scope in fighting poverty is yet to be fully realized. The food support programme is
another social safety instrument of the government for the poorest.

In spite of all these cataclysmic facts, one may hope that according to the economy
revival plan of the government, the time will be changed and the economic
development rate will be enhanced and at the same time the level of poverty will be
decreased. Now the time has come that if we want Pakistan to rise up to that
extent where the prosperity; integrity, solidarity and economic stability will be all
around, then every Pakistani will have to work as far as in him lies. By working with
whole dedication, concentration and conviction we may achieve a strong Pakistan
dreamt by Quaid-e-Azam, and by going this way, the day will not be far away when
Pakistan will bear the palm and it will show its mettle to the rest of the world.

Why poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere?

Global Level
Poverty destabilises countries, regions and the world- and threatens world prosperity
The answer lies in the interconnectedness of the world. The world is so intertwined today that it is impossible even
for the far off prosperous lands to stay immune to the disasters that originate from pockets of poverty and
inequity.

Poetically speaking, the islands of prosperity cannot survive for long in the oceans of poverty. Poverty generates the
tides of instability, conflict, war, disease, terror, crime, environmental degradation, revolutions and unrest which
threaten to wash away the prosperity even from the far distant shores.

Within states, extreme poverty literally kills. The hunger, malnutrition, and disease claim the lives of millions each
year. Poverty-stricken states tend to have weak institutions and weak governments. They are often plagued by
ineffective governance, rendering them unable to meet their people’s basic needs for food, sanitation, health care,
and education. Weak governments are often unable to adequately control their territory—leaving lawless areas
and natural resources to be hijacked by predatory actors. Such Fragile states can become breeding grounds for
criminal activity, internal strife, or terrorist networks— and often all three simultaneously.

Further, Extreme poverty exhausts governing institutions, depletes resources, weakens leaders, and crushes hope—
fuelling a volatile mix of desperation and instability. Poor, fragile states can explode into violence or implode into
collapse, imperilling their citizens, regional neighbours, and the wider world as livelihoods are crushed, investors
flee, and ungoverned territories become a spawning ground for global threats like terrorism, trafficking,
environmental devastation, and disease.

The Arab spring revolutions are an example of how poverty causes instability and consequences beyond its area of
existence . What started as act of defiance by a frustrated poverty stricken fruit vendor in Tunisia, became a
revolution for regime change. It spread into similar uprisings in Libya ,Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. Large-scale
conflicts and violence followed. Consequently waves of refugees, who were running for their lives, entered the
developed countries like Germany, France, Italy and so on. Stuck in poverty, misery and hopelessness, some of them
turned rogue and got drawn into terrorism.

Hence poverty and resulting inequity and frustration in middle east nations became a threat of terrorism, crime,
unrest and humanitarian crises for prosperous countries of europe and the world.

Hence if prosperity has to be aspired for future generations anywhere in the world, poverty needs to be alleviated
everywhere in the world.

The world also has had different equations that revolve in comprehending
poverty, but not prosperity. Various countries, commonly referred to as third
world countries by the UN have all suffered to navigate poverty and these
countries have thwarted prosperity by relying on such developed countries for
sustenance. G7 countries as the affluent countries are addressed have always
worked in the alleviation of poverty across the world, but has had futile results.
No one reason can be attributed to such demeaning poverty, but this poverty
has affected prosperity from thriving. Prosperity has its wealth bargained in
strategizing compensating the poor.

Globalization is product of neo imperilalism GLOBAL South VSS Global North

In a post-globalised world order, humanity rests on imbricated systems of trade, economy, the

environment and a massive, ever- expanding flow of ideas. In such a scenario, poverty threatens the very

foundations of this fragile world order. Various economic research studies point toward a recent trend in

increasing income inequalities within nations, as marked by the standardised measure of inequality

known as the ‘Gini Coefficient’, especially over the past few decades. However, it is important to

remember that the consequences of living in grossly unequal societies with millions living in poverty, goes

beyond the perspective that mere economic denominators can provide. Poverty is a multi-dimensional

problem which encompasses a state of total deprivation of the individual, in terms of social,

healthcare and educational opportunities provided to him/ her. Thus, poverty stands in the path as

an obstacle for individual to tap their potential to the fullest, and undermines the overall prosperity of the

population.

EGALITARIAN SOCIETY

SCANDINAVIAN Countires Bloc

Thus, the state of poverty can certainly be considered by one and all of a society as a threat

towards the path of creating an egalitarian society. If promoting egalitarianism in the society

of ours is our goal, then the pathway of achieving this goal is only by wiping off poverty lock,

stock and barrel for we the world being. As stated above, poverty is a serpent and the

greatest trait of poverty is that it like a parasite which destroys the tree, in the same way,
poverty of a few destroys the plenty and prosperity of the many. As state of poverty is

marked by the trait of being dependent on others due to meagre or little income of the

poverty-stricken person, so, the voidness created by poverty even if to a little extent cannot

be engulfed by the plenty and prosperity of the society as a whole.

ClimateCHANGE / ENVIROMENT DEGRADATION

frequent calamities and geographical disturbances have all been a bane for
countries not developing, these factors have inadvertently impacted the
prosperous to act upon the reconciliation of poverty

INTERNAL STRIFE / CIVIL WARS

Poor countries and poverty stuck countries look for benevolence from the rich
countries for every endeavor of their failure. Let us examine a country that is
plagued by internal strife like Yemen, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine have all
languished under seize of wars internally and have surrendered themselves in
trade, commerce imbroglios, withering their wealth and relying on prosperous
countries for aid for rehabilitation.

ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

The famous incident of illegal migrants moving through Cyprus and

disseminating themselves through the whole of Europe, working on the fringe
existing resources of Europe and leading to building up shelters, providing the
refugees with food and jobs. This has forced Germany to urge UN to stall illegal
migration to Europe, but, the countries were already affected by their
dwindling resources.
corruption, greed, dearth of natural resources,

Another instance of mismanagement of resources by Zimbabwe and calamities

struck Ethiopia. These countries never regained their economies, further, in
addition, there was large scale corruption which fuelled their downfall. These
countries were in fact bailed out by the affluent countries across the world and
the wealthy countries that contribute to the UN for such governance have seen
their cumulative wealth dissipate. Let us examine the mysterious case of
Somalia, that has always reeled under immense international pressure to be
helped financially to stabilize, but failing to capitalize, since Somalia lacks any
initiative to thrive due to dearth of resources and mineral wealth. So the stuck
poverty countries have all been engaging in depending on wealthy countries for
its survival. The case of Southeast Asian countries to have had similar
problems of wealth management and dearth of natural resources, besides
adverse climatic conditions and poor leadership, have all accounted for unholy
reliance on wealthy countries to help the third world countries to see the dawn.

Mexico and Latin American countries such as Venezuela also have unresolved
problems which have discreet policies leading to poverty and thereby resorting
to unfair trade and commerce among all countries affecting the monetary
allignments among countries. In fact, such countries have affected the trade
agreements among member countries and further aggravated the position in
trade negotiations adversely. These trade and commerce impediments have
never permitted these countries to prosperity, but in fact, their poverty has
driven the subsiding prosperous countries into indigence.
POOR COOPERATION OF GLOBAL NORTH

Many countries across the globe have shared the responsibility in promoting
schemes and devising strategies that help the poor ridden countries to embark
on the path of prosperity, yet certain countries such as Chile, Sudan, Eastern
Islands, and Scandinavian countries have never worked towards such
development and have only themselves to blame for their position rendered by
poor wealth management, abundant population and poor wealth of resources.
These countries have capitulated to abjectness with poor administration,
internal unsteadiness and not being updated to development across the world.
Technological advancements, space research, a manufacturing medley of
products, promoting USPs to trading countries and abysmal services sector
have been a limiting factor for these third world countries destining themselves
to rely upon the wealthy nations urging financial requirements being met with.

REGIONAL ORGANZTIONS

BRICS that comprises developing countries have promoted themselves and

redeemed with prosperity, helping regions around them from mitigating
poverty. The recent aid from India to the Maldives, the UN helping Syria,
Algeria, and Cairo to rebuild their economies all stand testimony to countries
lending support to poverty stuck countries to overcome struggles. U S A
provides Most Favoured Nation status to various countries, permitting them to
export goods with either lower tariffs or no tariffs imposed. China’s
development of CEPC and granting a loan to rebuild Pakistan’s economy is a
pointer in this regard.
NATO

Germany helping the NATo countries such as Lithuania, Estonia also points
out to the fact of how developed countries lend financial and moral support to
help build such low esteemed countries to prosperity.

But the fact is countries such as African nations, Scandinavian, Central

American, and East Asian nations have all floundered their wealth, never
established education, industries, neither progressed in mining, agriculture,
and services. These nations have adapted poverty and the repositories, coffers
of developed and developing countries are coughed for the sustenance of such
underdeveloped economies. Poverty anywhere in the world cuts into
prosperities everywhere in the world as all 193 member countries in the UN
have a responsibility to help one other to progress and develop. Such initiatives
are nevertheless welcomed, but at what charge? Ascertain countries
languishing with internal imbroglios, the dearth of competencies, inadequate
education, should align with the world work with moral principles and stay
independent, else poverty on selective nations will render prosperity shared
and end up with no prosperity anywhere.

How can we solve this problem?

To quote Nelson Mandela, “Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it
is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.” He had also
once said, “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is the protection of a
fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.”

Several steps can be taken to reduce the levels of poverty in the world. Most of
these must be initiated by the government. Let us go through some of them.

Creation of jobs: The best way out of poverty is a well-paying job. The unemployed
and jobless people cannot possibly earn money to support either themselves or their
families. This problem can only be solved by creating more employment
opportunities.

Other Incentives: Corporations and all businesses, in general, should provide paid
sick leaves to their employees. Nearly 4 in every 10 private-sector workers and 7 in
every 10 low wage workers do not have a single paid sick day. Without these
incentives, most individuals cannot manage to balance their work and home affairs
(without sacrificing their income). Paid leave is one of the most beneficial anti-
poverty policies adopted by multiple countries.

Free Healthcare: The price of a single vial of insulin currently in the United States of
America is almost $275. Medicines cover huge expenses, especially when you are
fighting a disease. Not being able to cope with this makes us vulnerable. The most
important step to control poverty includes the provision of free healthcare.

The government is largely responsible for preventing this outbreak. However, it

won’t work without our contribution. There are multiple charitable organizations for
us to join. There are websites and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that
accept donations. They carefully spend the donated amount for helping people who
fall under the poverty line. We need to do our part.

Combating poverty

Relative poverty will always exist to some extent as perfect equity is an unending quest. The real concern is the
absolute poverty or the extreme poverty.

As far as efforts to reduce extreme poverty are concerned, it is now firmly established worldwide that reducing
poverty is not just a matter of simply increasing income of the poor . To free someone from the clutches of extreme
poverty permanently, a sustained multidimensional approach is the only way out.

Hence poverty alleviation efforts combine many parallel dimensions - access to health care , nutrition and food
security, access to quality education and skill development, access to clean water and sanitation, promoting
gender equality and women empowerment, affordable energy, more equitable economic growth, microfinancing,
innovative use of technology to create opportunity for poor, progressively creating social security systems for those
who can’t support themselves, sustainable consumption and production etc.

The efforts have shown encouraging results. Statistics show that compared to 1990 , the number of people living in
poverty are 35 percent less. Effectively around one billion people have been raised above poverty in one generation.

Poverty free world: the only choice for mankind

However, the stark reality of poverty still stares at us.

Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3
billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. According to UNICEF, 22000 children die everyday due to
poverty. Hunger is the number one cause of death in the world, killing more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis combined.
This becomes more shocking when we realise poverty is an artificially created phenomenon. Ultimately it is the
0result of manmade structures and systems.

It is not that that food produced in the world is insufficient and that is why hunger deaths are caused. The yearly
food production is 17 percent more than required for consumption for all mankind today. This reminds one of what
Gandhi ji said – “the earth provides enough for everyone's needs but not everyone' greed.”

Oxfam estimates that it would take $60 billion annually to end extreme global poverty--that's less than 1/4 the
income of the top 100 richest billionaires. Just 100 persons in 6 billion strong humanity earn four times more than
what is needed to eliminate world poverty. This money is just 10 percent of annual defence budget of USA.

This makes one ponder that may be the reason for extreme poverty around world is not the dearth of income or
resources, rather it is lack of intent and empathy in all of us as mankind. As Someone has said “poverty of goods
can be easily cured but poverty of soul, impossible”.

But this needs to change. This has to change. The sooner we realise it , the better.

Because Poverty alleviation today is not a choice. It is not something that rich nations, organisations or persons
need to do out of weight on moral conscience seeing the misery and poverty around. In a world where boundaries
and borders have blurred, and where seemingly distant threats can dangerously transform into immediate
problems, the fight against global poverty has become a fight of necessity—not simply because personal morality
demands it, but because global security and prosperity does as well.

Hence poverty free world is the only version of the world that can ensure sustainability and prosperity for all.
This quote from Ban Ki Moon can so aptly conclude this argument for poverty free world

" There is no plan B, Because there is no planet B"

economic, political, social, environmental and

human dimensions.

Poverty has many dimensions, which include economic, political, social,

environmental and human dimensions. In economic terms a county, a region or a
household is poor when the per capita income of a country or the income of a
household is very low. Similarly the purchasing power of a poor country or
household is below a certain minimum standard; there are low medical care and
health facilities, productivity is very low and there is illiteracy.
In political terms a country, a region or a group of people are poor when they do
not have a voice in the community or dependant on other more powerful groups or
individuals in order to express their own rights and choices.

In social terms poverty in a country, a region or a household breeds all types of

socially unacceptable behaviours like drug addiction, crime, prostitution, violence ad
terrorism in a family or in a community. These factors degrade human self-respect,
moral and social values of the society as a whole and as a result more and more
people in the community become intolerant and rude towards each other in their
day to day life.
In environmental dimension, poverty destroys the living environment not only of
those who live in poverty but of all other human beings as well as non-human living
things that depend on the same resources and ecosystem on which those living in
poverty depend and survive. People living in poverty cannot change their
behaviours easily because of lack of resources, knowledge about their own
surroundings and education. Thus by destroying their own living environment, the
poor in reality are destroying their own resources on which they survive in the long
run.

Poverty in its human dimension is the most important of all, because poor people
live in conditions that are miserable, conditions in which some members of their
family die of hunger, disease of famine. Poverty in its human dimension exists,
when a child is down with a curable disease and the parents have to take a decision
whether to take the child to a doctor and buy expensive medicines or purchase
other essentials of daily use. It exists when parents of a child sell their child into
slavery or prostitution because of lack of resources to feed or care for that child and
when government institutes fail to protect the rights of the poor.

Besides the financial (economic) aspect, poverty, as Amartya Sen would see it, is also
‘unfreedom’ in a number of ways. It entails in it social aspects like gender, political aspects
like the right to freedom of speech and psychological aspects like happiness. All of these
are also interwoven together, often forming the vicious circles of not only poverty but well
being. Poverty is also inextricably linked to inequality. A highly unequal society is an
implication of the large majority of the poverty-stricken population. While some scholars
seem to look at inequality as a tool for efficiency, this view would persist only for some and
for the shorter run. For the greater good and larger masses both poverty and inequality are
like a disease that slowly eats up the entire social fabric of the country from within.

From an exclusively economic point of view, poverty would imply a low savings rate in the
economy which is analogous to low investment and consequently slow growth of the
economy. Besides this, increased poverty also hampers people’s access to basic facilities
like clothing, food, and shelter. This leads to people being increasingly distrustful, crimes
rising at an unprecedented rate and a growing unease and dissatisfaction that often take
the form of violence and rage in society. Difficult conditions of living also make people
question the legitimacy of the state. A decreasing voter turnout, larger number of strikes
and protests etc. are some means of such expression.

At the same time, we need to think and ponder over the fact, ‘what is the greatest
repercussion of poverty?’ Dependency in life on those who have a certain state of
prosperity in their life can be considered to be its greatest repercussion. In the long run,
poverty acts as the serpent, and, in this way, a poverty-stricken person to sustain in this
world in one way or the other is compelled to eat away the resources of those who are
prosperous in life. This fact of poverty itself is a pointer towards the fact that ‘poverty
anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere’.

At the same time, we need to ponder which is the greatest form of poverty? The simple
answer to this question is that, “the greatest form of poverty in this world is that which
compels us to incline towards the don’ts of life instead of do’s”. Thus, poverty leads us to a
path which is anarchic and troublesome. In the long run, poverty has the capacity to cripple
those faculties of mind which may lead our life in the right direction.

If prosperity in life leads to a state of being, of self-contentment in life, at the same time,
poverty in one’s life leads to a certain feeling of voidness in his/her life. In this way, the
state of being of a person in poverty is just the reverse of that person who is in a state of
prosperity. The voidness created in one’s life due to poverty stings that particular person to
take the path of anti-social activities in his/ her life. Sometimes this anarchic and anti-social
activities of a poor person which are activities done to appease his thirst and hunger of that
particular person creates due to his such activities anarchy on the society. The greatest
fallout of such anti-social activities is the creation of a diabolic society, a diabolic society
which engulfs one and all of our society irrespective of rich or poor of the society.

Thus, the state of poverty can certainly be considered by one and all of a society as a threat
towards the path of creating an egalitarian society. If promoting egalitarianism in the
society of ours is our goal, then the pathway of achieving this goal is only by wiping off
poverty lock, stock and barrel for we the world being. As stated above, poverty is a serpent
and the greatest trait of poverty is that it like a parasite which destroys the tree, in the
same way, poverty of a few destroys the plenty and prosperity of the many. As state of
poverty is marked by the trait of being dependent on others due to meagre or little income
of the poverty-stricken person, so, the voidness created by poverty even if to a little extent
cannot be engulfed by the plenty and prosperity of the society as a whole.

In a nutshell, poverty itself is a threat for the whole society in general, mainly due to two
reasons. Firstly, it is due to the effect that poverty creates on the psyche of the poor person
and secondly, this diabolic psyche has a wholesome effect on the all-round development of
that particular society. This is particularly because the path that sometimes taken by the
poverty-stricken person which is mainly a path of anti-social activities. As crimes are mainly
perpetrated on those who are wealthy and prosperous, therefore, this state of poverty
most of the times blossoms as a threat to the whole society as a whole and the prosperous
sections of the society in particular. All these facts again speak in volumes that ‘poverty
anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere’.
https://decodingworldaffairs.com/poverty-anywhere-is-a-threat-to-prosperity-
everywhere

https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/NDc0NQEEQQVVEEQQVV/
Poverty-anywhere-is-a-threat-to-prosperity-everywhere-Economic-Affairs-IAS

https://youtu.be/LE8piZ6mWZs