How will you define poverty?

[AK]

We have heard, read and been taught many definitions of poverty.But I'd like to ask everyone out there, "What does poverty mean to you?"

How do you define poverty?What does being poor mean to you?

What do you think would your life be like had you been poor?What do you think you would have missed in life, had you been poor?What are your feelings about the poor and about being poor?

What would you like to do about this issue, in your own way?How would you help the poor?

Please tell me in your own words, how you perceive poverty and being poor.

Looking forward to your responses.Thanks!

[darkme]

That is a great thread! karma for AA..... I love it.
Being poor is something I can not even begin to imagine. All I can tell is that: it must really be hard for those who are poor. I think being poor means that you sleep starving, you can spend a day without putting anything in your mouth, you spend winter days feeling extremly freezing and you would be lucky to even have a shelter in the stormy days. And that is all that my thoughts allow me to think. That is the farest thing I can get to thinking how poor people live. The thing that keeps shocking me is that when I see some of them speaking they would feel so lucky, they actually are grateful for the lives they lead. They maybe poor when it comes to meterial things but when they have their families and they learn -the hard way- the things that are really important in life. They learn the difference between what actually matters the most or the things that are supposed to matter the most to us humans.
Poverty is something that we all should learn from, we need to know that poor people aren't different from wealthy people. They shouldn't be discrminated against and we need to realize that they are waiting for someone to help them. We need to realize that it is not normal in today's world to be poor. We are in the the 21st century and the world has so many resources and so much money. Poverty shouldn't exist and we need to help them. Governments need to know that they should help their people.
I feel so scared when I remember that there's a fact that says 'every 3 seconds someone dies because of poverty'
However there is hope and there will always be. Things will change for the best. I know that for sure deep within. I am praying that God would help us in making a difference even if it was in a person's life!!

[AK]

Thanks for the karma Noor!You responded very well to this thread, your post was quite good.Everyone else, please pitch in and let us know what you think!

[fathiamar]

This is hard. Poor is sad. Poor is people that's lack with education. They cant bring their family up to a level where food or shelter is not an issue. They depend on the community to help. For me, we must help them, not because of pity, but because of obligation and responsibility.

We need to give them education. That's the best remedy for poverty. Send their children to school or give scholarship for them to go to university so that, their children will bring the family out of poverty.

[darkme]

well, poor people don't nessicarily have to be uneducated. actually here in the middle-east there are people who went to college but still they are poor. some countries here offer free education and people are able to go to universities without paying anything but they are poor because after finishing thier studies they do not find a job that fits their education, they sometimes -if lucky- find any job which pays very little but most cases they sit at home.

I think that poverty exists because of thise greedy politicians who take the country's money and leave the people to starve. They don't care about their people, they are so corrupted. It was the exact reason why we left Iraq. My dad couldn't afford to provide us a good life because Saddam took all Iraq's money and spent it with his followers. Iraq has so many resourses and the oil plays a big role in the aconomy but if you took a look when Saddam was ruling you'd see the people living in really poor conditions and poverty was spread.

[Zach]

Yes, thats true. They may be highly educated, but when they mess up once, they can ruin their live.

[fathiamar]

The situation there is different than mine. Here, the politician give money to students that scored all A's in exams. We want our people to have education so that they can help their family which is poor when they work.

[winmsn]

POVERTY : unable to afford basic nessicaties like schooling, medical supplies, food and water due to natural/man made circumanstances.

Poverty is not only restricted to third world countries : in the United States, 17% percent of American Children, live below the poverty line.

[alyssamilanofan]

winmsn said:

POVERTY : unable to afford basic nessicaties like schooling, medical supplies, food and water due to natural/man made circumanstances.

Poverty is not only restricted to third world countries : in the United States, 17% percent of American Children, live below the poverty line.

yeah I totally agree with that!
I mean here there's over 5000 children (registered) that are homeless out of what I guess 5 million children that live here. So that's a lot. In my society we have the problem that we have to many elderly problem and they all get refunding from the governements but there's not enough and the elderly people get more poor every day even though they worked hard in their lives and have the right to have decent refunding. Especially in the region I live in there are a lot unemployed people. So I think there's more poverty than just in the thirth world countries.
One example is this woman that lives here she has 3 daughters and they have to live with 25 euro's a week (for the four of them) to buy food and clothes and all those things and it's absolutely crazy you can't even buy enough food for that money. So that's just an example and there are even worse now that's poverty in my eyes.

[Zach]

winmsn said:

17% percent of American Children, live below the poverty line.

And, sadly my city is on the top 5 cities with the most homeless children (US).

[travisboddie]

"What does poverty mean to you?"
It means more now then ever. Since I was poor along time ago. I learned that it not a joke. These day poverty can mean your mom and dad don't make a lot of money and you have federal and state help. Some people would call poverty in a way where you may not have any money and don't get help. Like kids that go to my school because they can't afford the expense cloth they want to say that the are under the poverty level. But that it not true.

How do you define poverty?What does being poor mean to you?

I define poverty as love because what I learned when I used to be under the poverty level. I had something them rich or middle class students had which was love. Now I am grateful to have money but I don't take it for advantage and give it when I can because it all about helping others. Poor to me means sadness because of the all the things you have to go threw and how people treat you and that not right. It not like this people just woke up and say I am going to be poor. Maybe there parents could not send them to college or something that what we have to look at.

What do you think would your life be like had you been poor?What do you think you would have missed in life, had you been poor?What are your feelings about the poor and about being poor?

My life was Sad I felt ashamed of myself and like I failed in life and that it was almost a embarrassment to show my face to others. Also I could ask my mother for things I really wanted because I know she was stretching the money. Things people had like friends and party are things I miss but it a way I am happy that it happen because I became closer with my family and I know that money cant break us up. My heart goes out to let no say poor people but low income family on how the have to do like I did but remember there people like others and myself that will remember when what we went threw and will be there to help you get threw it email me at [e-mail] I am here if you need anything willing to give and if I don't have it I will work hard to get it. We must come together. As far as what I think about being poor we know it not you choice it could be because you wasn't able to complete school or it hard to find a job and I feel that eventually we as a whole will get out of being poor.

What would you like to do about this issue, in your own way?How would you help the poor?

I want people to begin to speak out I think there should be a bill issue out IT TIME WE COME TOGETHER. I would like to start a small Committee with the people in this organization to make a proposal to the President and the Senator and Legislator about poverty and the need of homeless. I ask that you come with me to make a difference please. We can accomplish it together setting out a limit of money to get homeless family situated and supply with jobs and etc.

[hekatea]

Poverty for me is a worse form of human rights violation. On the material level, it gives advantage to those in power whether political and or economic since they thrive on/ feed on to the the disadvantaged class of the society. It breeds other crimes like sex trafficking, drug abuse, murder and so on and works like a web. It makes people homeless, father/motherless, hungry, uneducated, abused. On the spiritual level, it makes people guiltless, and without conscience they can do whatever they want thus they go deeper into quagmire.

[darkme]

to travisboddie:
ur experience must have made u learn so much. nowadays um realizing more and more that the worst ur trouble is, the more and more life lessons u learn.
Poverty can be such a bad thing but um sure it gives people life lessons. but in the very hard way.

[AK]

travisboddie said:

"What does poverty mean to you?"
It means more now then ever. Since I was poor along time ago. I learned that it not a joke. These day poverty can mean your mom and dad don't make a lot of money and you have federal and state help. Some people would call poverty in a way where you may not have any money and don't get help. Like kids that go to my school because they can't afford the expense cloth they want to say that the are under the poverty level. But that it not true.

How do you define poverty?What does being poor mean to you?

I define poverty as love because what I learned when I used to be under the poverty level. I had something them rich or middle class students had which was love. Now I am grateful to have money but I don't take it for advantage and give it when I can because it all about helping others. Poor to me means sadness because of the all the things you have to go threw and how people treat you and that not right. It not like this people just woke up and say I am going to be poor. Maybe there parents could not send them to college or something that what we have to look at.

What do you think would your life be like had you been poor?What do you think you would have missed in life, had you been poor?What are your feelings about the poor and about being poor?

My life was Sad I felt ashamed of myself and like I failed in life and that it was almost a embarrassment to show my face to others. Also I could ask my mother for things I really wanted because I know she was stretching the money. Things people had like friends and party are things I miss but it a way I am happy that it happen because I became closer with my family and I know that money cant break us up. My heart goes out to let no say poor people but low income family on how the have to do like I did but remember there people like others and myself that will remember when what we went threw and will be there to help you get threw it email me at [e-mail] I am here if you need anything willing to give and if I don't have it I will work hard to get it. We must come together. As far as what I think about being poor we know it not you choice it could be because you wasn't able to complete school or it hard to find a job and I feel that eventually we as a whole will get out of being poor.

What would you like to do about this issue, in your own way?How would you help the poor?

I want people to begin to speak out I think there should be a bill issue out IT TIME WE COME TOGETHER. I would like to start a small Committee with the people in this organization to make a proposal to the President and the Senator and Legislator about poverty and the need of homeless. I ask that you come with me to make a difference please. We can accomplish it together setting out a limit of money to get homeless family situated and supply with jobs and etc.

That was a great and a really moving post Travis.Thank you very much for sharing your feelings & experiences with all of us here.I appreciate your will to do something for the poor and to give to others.Your post was like an eye-opener...

People in this world only know how to take...it's good to see that there are people like you, who're willing to give. The world needs people like you to change the world for the better.

Of course, we all support you and your cause. You're right in saying that we need to come together...

We'll join hands and fight poverty till we win.

Karma for you Travis

[travisboddie]

Thank you both for your support it means more to me then you think.

[darkme]

ah, we are glad...

[AK]

travisboddie said:

Thank you both for your support it means more to me then you think.

You're welcome Travis. It's our pleasure.

[Justin R. Wilkerson]

I have growm up in a very nice part of the world, but it still pisses me off to hear of the horrors around the world, i would give up EVERYTHING i have to end poverty!!!

[travisboddie]

Here is some info I want to share with you.

# Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day. source 1
# The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined. source 2
# Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. source 3
# 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. source 4
# 51 percent of the world’s 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations. source 5
# The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation. source 6
# The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money. source 7
# 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods. source 8
# The top fifth of the world’s people in the richest countries enjoy 82% of the expanding export trade and 68% of foreign direct investment — the bottom fifth, barely more than 1%. source 9
# In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much. source 10
# An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest and poorest countries was about:

* 3 to 1 in 1820
* 11 to 1 in 1913
* 35 to 1 in 1950
* 44 to 1 in 1973
* 72 to 1 in 1992 source 11

# “The lives of 1.7 million children will be needlessly lost this year [2000] because world governments have failed to reduce poverty levels” source 12

[AK]

Those are some startling facts Travis.

Thanks for sharing them here with us.They were an eye-opener to the appalling reality of our world.

All problems combine to produce a chain effect which is why the cycle of poverty just goes on and on...

But I would admit one thing, that poverty is a human-created problem.People in the past created it and people in the present are hell-bent to make sure that it continues.

Wealth and resources are concentrated in the hands of a few, while the countries boast of growing economies.Dismal situation out there...