Absolute Poverty:
Absolute poverty is defined as a condition in which a person doesn't have the necessary resources for survival. Absolute poverty could, in theory, be defeated, if the necessary survival resources were provided to the poor. Poverty is usually measured in absolute terms in developing countries, where it is most common, but also can exist in wealthy countries if the vast majority of wealth is owned by a small minority.
Relative Poverty:
Relative poverty occurs when people are "poor" in relation to those around them. For example, in a first world country, poverty might be when a person is unable to afford what is widely available to other people, such as a telephone or electricity. However, in poorer countries, relative poverty could fall under the category of absolute poverty. The U.S. poverty guideline is $11,670 for households of one person. As I said before- 15% of Americans are under the poverty line. That's 46,000,000 people. Unlike absolute poverty, relative poverty cannot be eradicated, as destroying it would require equal distribution of wealth.
More Info:
Here's a video with more information about wealth inequality in the U.S, and why it's such a serious problem. But don't take it from me- do your own research and develop your own opinion. Or, if you live outside the United States, find out more about poverty and wealth distribution in your own county.
- Official statistics on poverty in the U.S.
- Article about the history of the fight against poverty in America from the New York Times
- The official Poverty USA website
What do You Think?
Is poverty as severe of an issue as I made it out to be? More severe? What's the best way for dealing with poverty? If it affects so many people, why hasn't a good solution been discovered/put in place yet? No political party claims poverty to be a good thing. But relative poverty, at least, is an unavoidable part of our capitalist system. How can this problem ever be solved? Please, tell me (respectfully) your opinions and ideas in the comments! Do you plan to take any action against poverty?
SOURCES: HTTP://ASPE.HHS.GOV
The world is so messed up right now we have people who hate blacks and woman for no good reason, and now we have poverty. The reason is that the 1% people has the most money and don't pay taxes while the poor has to pay taxes that are way to high for them. The solution is taxing the rich not the poor but even apple or google doesn't pay taxes either. The law system is a wall high and strong but now it's a wall with holes the rich jump in the holes while the poor just obey the law and become poor and poor again until they become homeless. Our government is not the best in the world in fact it may be the worst. This Proud country sucks i see no solution for USA it is the rotten apple.
ReplyDeleteThat's a condemning response- but most people would agree with you. The USA, however, along with thousands of other countries worse than it, is a place millions of people call home. Are they too condemned? Do you believe that anything can be done to help the citizens of these places, or are you trying to express no hope for the world at large?
DeleteKyle, I disagree and agree, but mostly, to see that none of whats happening is new, and we are better of then ever, just go and look at the ancient Egyptians. or Greeks. or Romans.
DeleteI agree to both of you the USA can be saved it's just that who will the rich Ha they want more money as they can get. They don't want to give to the poor what does that do for them nothing it doesn't help them rich. Other major town or city can be saved but to save something there is always a Price it's money. Money is king the more money is given to the government and not the rich can help all we need to do is tax them. I see a small hope of this becoming true i think people on mars has better chances. Now Dru yes we are better than Greeks or Romans and the Egyptians but are we the best no we are better then them for sure but the truth is i believe We can still be better. I believe people should not get guns like assault rifles why do you need one. Cause bad people is coming to your house with a gun so you need a bigger gun..NO! Adults and kids die every day cause someone with gun shoot someone People who have mental problems People who are (Crazy) can get Guns, and then he/she goes killing random people. Now your gonna say the second amendment true it says it but back then there was no army to protect them. The USA has more guns than everyone else combined. the solution is simple we don't have big machine guns have a rifle who needs a machine gun to kill a deer all you need is a rifle. There should be a test to get a gun mental and physical this will reduce death and make everyone happy cause we got no crazy manic with machine guns.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have really strong opinions about gun control- would you like to write a guest post for the blog? I'm happy to accept additional content from writers other than me. It would diversify the website, and we all know that diversity is something I fully support. :)
DeleteHi! I just discovered your blog off of Google+ -- I think your sister is in my circles? Anyway, I just read through the whole thing. This is SO COOL. I can't believe you actually do this stuff on your own time. All the effort that must have gone into this...
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are an awesome writer. Your posts are super clear and informative. It's almost jealousy-inspiring.
You are a fantastic person with a fantastic blog!
Wow, thanks! I'm really touched by your compliments, it means a lot to me that people think my doing this is worth something. :) I'm glad to welcome any new reader to the blog, thank you so much for dropping by! I hope you'll continue to read and comment with your own thoughts as the World Improvement Project grows.
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