What is Poverty? An Illusion? An Inescapable Social Structure? Both?

 By Robert Kelly


                      



Poverty is defined as the state of being inferior in quantity or insufficient amount. This often is equated to insufficiency in money. However, we often don't consider that poverty is far more complex than being financially poor. Often, we only place value on building economic wealth and rarely acknowledge the intricacies in our socioeconomic environment. Poverty is a system where fiscal and emotional needs intertwine with our society's views. The financial boxes we are "put in" ultimately determine our lives, making it difficult for poverty to be simply a deficit in money. 


According to Urban Institute, in 2021, "one in seven Americans may have annual family resources below the poverty threshold" according to Urban Institute. In addition, it is estimated that over 1.3 billion people in 107 emerging countries, accounting for 22% of the world population, live in multidimensional poverty. Moreover, 689 million people endure extreme poverty, meaning they have to survive on less than $1.90 a day. We are often told money can't buy happiness. However, many people don't have the financial means to attain even their most basic needs, and those who do often live healthier, happier, more fulfilling lives. Even the most necessary commodities are not handed to us. We often have to work diligently to attain them. This can be difficult for people living within financial strains and often leads them to sacrifice one for the other. This perpetual cycle makes poverty more than just not having enough money, but a system and cycle that can be hard to come out of. Thus, discouraging those in it.


To survive, we need food, clothing, shelter, and the means to maintain and replenish those essential needs. Those who cannot meet these needs have to navigate less economically fulfilling lives and are subject to both the physical and mental poverty that follows. Impoverished families struggle to access food, medicine, and other necessities during pregnancy, increasing the possibility of the fetus being born with congenital disabilities. These could range from delayed physical and mental growth to extreme and frequent illness as the child matures. The learning difficulties this could cause in school-aged children could follow them into adulthood.


As the definition suggests, poverty is a state of being, meaning it is far more substantial than one's financial situation. Impoverished people often live in disadvantaged communities. Observing others endure chronic food insecurity and unstable employment as you navigate those things yourself makes for an even more disheartening condition. Many people find it challenging to break this cycle of inequity and find themselves in a trap of generational poverty. In America, many people can no longer see better for themselves. This deficit mindset allows for poverty to endure for generations.


In tying our economic position to material things, we fail to realize that financial situations determine one's altitude in life and attitude towards it. There is little doubt that one's wealth can influence their experiences. However, if we adopt a growth mindset, practice delayed gratification, and take collective work responsibility, we can forge a brighter future. It is vital for those living financially turbulent lives to remain optimistic about the future and seek more in their situation. On the contrary, economically stable people should take action and share the seeds of surplus with others. All in all, poverty is harder to escape for some than it is for others, but if we remain optimistic, it becomes much easier to change your economic status for the better.





















Works Cited:


Bureau, US Census. “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020.” Census.gov, 18 Oct. 2021, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html.


“The Effects of Poverty.” Move For Hunger, https://moveforhunger.org/the-effects-of-poverty.


Giannarelli, Linda, et al. “2021 Poverty Projections.” Urban Institute, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.urban.org/research/publication/2021-poverty-projections.


Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, 29 Dec. 2020, https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.


Peer, Andrea. “Global Poverty: Facts, Faqs, and How to Help.” World Vision, 23 Aug. 2021, https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts#:~:text=689%20million%20people%20live%20in,a%20majority%20in%20most%20regions. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adolescent Menstruation

Image
Written By: Sandy Saleh What is a Menstrual Period? The cessation of the menstrual cycle, where the female body prepares itself for a possible pregnancy in a monthly rhythmic cycle, is known as the menstrual period. The uterus creates a thick lining of tissue called the endometrium in order for the ovaries to release an egg that can possibly be fertilized by the male reproductive gamete, sperm. In the event that the egg isn’t fertilized, the endometrium sheds abreast changes in hormones lasting three to eight days, this causes vaginal bleeding. The normal age for a female’s first period is intervening ages 11 and 14 and will normally continue until menopause which, on average, starts at the age of  51. The symptoms vary on an individual basis with approximately 90 percent, of the 800 million women menstruating daily experiencing differing symptoms such as food cravings, breast tenderness, vomiting, dysmenorrhea (cramps), headaches, nausea, somnolence, and fatigue.  The Problem Frequent
Read more

There is no Silver-Bullet Energy Climate Solution

Image
There is no Silver-Bullet Energy Climate Solution By: Jeremiah Cutright If you had to guess which European country has the lowest carbon emissions per capita (say, pre-pandemic levels), who would you pick? Most would probably go for Germany. As the poster child of renewable energy worldwide, this is most definitely the obvious pick. Between 2013 and 2019, Germany's total CO2 emissions declined by an impressive 16%, thanks to a sharp decline in its usage of coal power and a growth in renewables, wind in particular.1 But Germany is not the correct answer. In fact, in terms of per capita CO2 emissions, Germany still remains among the dirtiest of European countries. This is primarily due to its remaining reliance on brown coal (the most polluting type of coal) and the fact that most of the coal that has been displaced has been replaced with natural gas, not renewables. As natural gas has about half the greenhouse gas emissions as coal, there is an apparent relationship here. So if not
Read more

Indian Farmers Protest

Image
Damanpreet Kaur Director Of Governance Since August of 2020, farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and all of India have been protesting against India’s novel agricultural laws. These farmers, called the Kisaans have been protesting changes to India’s Agricultural laws because these new laws would trap farmers into contract farming systems with larger corporate businesses and consumers. Through almost a year of violence, India’s government has still refused to take steps to alleviate the issue, instead choosing to alienate peaceful protesters with tear gas and violence. On January 26, 2021, as India’s Republic Day, a national holiday where the country celebrates enacting its constitution, a peaceful rally a couple of miles away suddenly regressed into a violent riot. Police raided protest sites, used tear gas, and took the liberty of hitting protesters with batons. Nearly a million farmers rode their tractors to India’s capital, knocking down police barricades. Till this day, July 21, 2021,
Read more