What is poverty?: Poverty is a state in which one can no longer afford, or is stripped of basic human needs, such as water, food, shelter, clothing, safety, education, or healthcare. A person can also be considered poor if they are not in possession of a certain quantity of currency, and/or of material needs. Poverty also depends on one’s entourage or the lifestyle of the surrounding communities in general. For example, a woman whose monthly income is inferior to that of the “poverty line” (the limit which determines at what point a citizen should be classed as impoverished) in Canada vastly differs from that of a man living in Kenya. This also means that certain needs are not considered “basic” in some countries, or that the comfort and security of certain lifestyles can be quite skewered when compared to those of countries with greater economic stability. There also exist certain kinds of “metaphorical” poverties if you will…For example, someone who is denied honour, respect, love, etc…However, these do not apply to the standard definition, so just ignore them for now.
What creates poverty?: Poverty is, from a basic point of view, caused by a lack of money, be it at a personal or national (governmental) level. Although, from a more concise point of view, poverty is also caused by a lack of education, which leads to fewer men and women able to take up the demanding mantle of crucial tasks, such as providing healthcare, shelter, or even, in a vicious circle, education. Thus, due to a lack of education, people are forced to find a job (if they can, that is) which has very little prerequisites, and thus, most likely, sub-par working conditions which produce questionable revenue. This furthers the theory of a vicious circle, since those with little income can not afford to properly educate their children. And even though I don’t want to sound like a bit of an extremist, the rich or powerful whom extort or abuse of the poor, instead of helping them, continue this vicious cycle.
How to help people escape poverty: There exists no predefined route to escape poverty. However, by providing free, widespread, quality education for all citizens, more and more equitable jobs will be created, and, thus, basic needs like nutrition, health care and shelter will be easier to come by, thus counteracting the vicious circle theory I mentioned earlier. This may seem all well and good, but the government must be willing and capable to pay for nation-wide education, taxpayers must be in measure to continue to fund such a project, and students must be willing to study. Next, while government aid programs (such as when people are offered politically funded financial support) do not solve poverty by any means, they do allow people to live a somewhat more respectable lifestyle.
The effects of poverty: I’ve basically already answered this, but I’ll recap anyways. Once poverty is instilled, less and less people can take up important jobs, such as those related to the field of medicine or nutrition. This causes people to have a very strenuous – if any – access to basic human needs. Not only that, but since less and less people have an acceptable revenue, less and less people can afford to educate their children, thus resulting in a continuation of aforementioned events. This vicious circle then slowly cripples the country, assuring a steady decline, until the nation eventually collapses, unable to support itself…unless, of course, if something is done to remedy to the situation as soon and efficiently as possible.
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