[토론주제] Hard Topic. Global poverty

[Ana Cho]

  Global Poverty

•Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.

•The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

•Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

•Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

•1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).

 Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.

 Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people. In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle.

 Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality. The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty. By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy, compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering.

 Around the world, in rich or poor nations, poverty has always been present. In most nations today, inequality—the gap between the rich and the poor—is quite high and often widening. The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors. Many feel that high levels of inequality will affect social cohesion and lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence.

 Inequality is often a measure of relative poverty. Absolute poverty, however, is also a concern. World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought. For example, the new poverty line is defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. With that measure based on latest data available (2005), 1.4 billion people live on or below that line. Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

Questions

1) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘poverty?’

2) Why do so many people live below the poverty line?

3) Bernard Shaw said: "The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty." Do you agree with this?

4) Why does poverty exist in rich countries like the USA?

5) What is more important to win, the war on terror or the war on poverty? Are governments spending on the right war?

6) Do you think there would be no wars if there was no poverty?

7) What do you think of people who buy expensive brands when so much poverty exists in the world?

8) Do you do anything to help reduce poverty?

global poverty_110514.hwp

[Ernesto Agustin Lee]

Ana 토픽 고마워요~ 좋은 한 주 보내고 토요일에 봐요~ ^^

[Iriskorean]

감솨~^^ 해요~*^^* 토론 잘 할께요~*^.~*

[Fox. Mulder]

I am sure that it will be a good topic to talk. Thank you for your effort. Bernard Shaw. good!