Inequality and Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Inequality and Poverty - Essay Example Bishop and Amiel (2007) assert that there is poverty in the majority of the world nations and its people. However, it is not enough to blame people for such predicaments, claiming that they are lazy or made poor decisions which are responsible for their plight. The government has pursued some policies which hamper successful development. Causes of inequality and poverty are in doubt but are more and deeper causes of poverty which are less discussed. Behind the increased interconnectedness which is promised by globalization are practices, policies and global decisions. Such are influenced, formulated, or driven by the powerful and the rich, or rather can be leaders from rich countries and other global actors like institutions, influential people and multinational corporations. However, in the face of such external influences, the government of the poor nations and their people are powerless and as a result, few get wealthy, while the majority struggle with their poor lives. Most of th e people live on just a few dollars a day, and it does not matter if one lives in the wealthiest nations or poorest, one will still notice the high levels of inequality. The poor people have less access to health, education and other basic services that are important in their lives. Problems of disease, malnutrition, and hunger afflict the poor people in the society. Additionally, the poor people are also marginalized from the society and have little representation or voice in political and public debates, which makes it harder for them to escape from poverty. In contrast, the richer you are, the more likely you benefit from political and economic policies. The amount of money the world spends on financial and military bailouts and other areas which benefits the richer is compared to the amount that is spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and other related problems (Jenkins, 2007). The Cutbacks in education, social services and health around the world results for the adjustm ent structural policies by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as conditions for repayment and loans. To add to this, developing governments are required to open their economies in order to compete with more established and powerful industrialized nations. To attract poor countries and investment, they have entered into a competition to find out who can provide cheaper resources, reduced wages, and attract investment. This has increased inequality and poverty for most people. To add to this, it also forms a backbone of what is we call globalization and as a result, it maintains the unequal historic rules of trade (Bishop & Amiel, 2007). Around the world, in poor or rich nations, poverty has always been present. In all most all nations, the inequality, meaning the gap between the poor and the rich is widening and quite high. The causes are also numerous, including bad government policy, exploitation by businesses and people with influence and power, lack of responsibility or a combination of such factors. Many individuals feel that the high levels of inequality affects the social cohesion, which leads to problems like violence and crime. Bishop and Amiel (2007) assert that inequality is often a measure of poverty that is usually relative. However, absolute poverty is also a matter of concern,