Poverty and Discrimination - Research Paper Example

Poverty And Discrimination As the world continues to grow day by day, there still remain some issues which remain untouched. They’re so critical in nature that if not taken care of or given proper attention, they are capable of damaging even strongest economies of the world. Some of these issues which are highlighted by the media every now and then include poverty and discrimination. These two issues are also described as “economic cancer”, slowly and steadily eating up the world economy alongside sucking up its important resources. Poverty can simply be defined as a state in which one cannot afford to fulfill even the most basic of human needs. Poverty is not a disease, rather a condition which can be overcome if proper steps are taken by the policy makers of a country. Furthermore, it’s not only even up to the policy makers alone to alienate poverty, it needs the contribution from people of all walks of society including technocrats, rich and the poor alike. People often argue that poverty isn’t really a problem as such and that the poor are poor as they don’t do much effort to get out of the vicious chain of poverty. Just mentioning a few facts and figures at this stage would give an idea of how widespread this cancer actually is. According to a research carried out by an agency of the United Nations, about three million people (or almost half the population of the entire world) thrive on less than $2.50 a day. According to yet another research, if the wealth of seven of the world’s richest men is combined, it would be much greater than the overall gross domestic product or GDP or 41 of the world’s most indebted and poor countries. Just to give a rough estimate, the population of these 41 countries combined stands at around five hundred and sixty seven million people (National Bureau of Economic Research & National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). Yet another research goes on to say that there are almost a billion people in the current century who are so poor and illiterate, that they’re even unable to cast their signatures or read a book. Poverty is one of the most major economic issues of the current times since it involves so many people. A solution needs to be discovered not only to manage this problem in the short term, but to eventually alienate it in the longer term. Addressing the issue of poverty would mean a lot more people would gain employment, they would be able to live a healthy life style, be able to finance their own day to day expenses, be able to achieve their basic necessities and finally be able lead a life without other’s support (unlike what used to happen when they were poor). Just like poverty, discrimination is also another major issue that’s giving a tough time to various economies of the world. One of the world’s most famous dictionaries Merriam Webster has defined discrimination as “The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the basis of cast, creed, race, edge, nationality or sex.” The question that we need to consider at this stage is why discrimination, just like poverty, is such a big problem. To start off discrimination leads people to take decisions on a basis that’s not just. If decisions are taken in such a manner then without any doubt there will be thousands of deserving candidates who will be unable to get what they deserve just because they aren’t of the right color, creed or religion. It is clear cut discrimination when a black youth is refused a job owing to his color as employers stereotype his “black” color and think of him as s drug peddler, gangster or a juvenile delinquent (Consumer Unity & Trust Society, 2000). There are far too many examples of discrimination in real life but a mention of just two or three at this stage would be enough to portray a picture of the damage that this menace is causing to the society. Often times at work place, women are given promotions much earlier than their male counterparts just because they “look good in senior positions” and because many employers believe that woman will get pregnant and quit much earlier as compared to a male worker. Similarly, it is discrimination when gays and lesbians aren’t given a right to vote just because their sexual orientation is “not right” whereas even men, even though if they are physically and / or mentally disabled, are allowed to cast votes. One needs to think in this case what wrong they have done by being gays and lesbians that they’re even being denied of their basic human rights. Is it their fault that they’re born this way? Aren’t they like other human beings, holding a mandate against whom they want to represent them in the senate, parliament and other law making bodies and councils? Discrimination not only arises because of race, creed or color but also due to various other reasons. Often times teachers and professors are noticed to give more attention to students who are smart and intelligent and already perform well in class. On the contrary, they don’t pay much attention to students who are weak and demand a little bit more attention. What happens this way is the smart ones continue to get better while the performance of the ones who are not that good continues to fall down and down until they hit rock bottom. This discrimination on the part of teachers to give preference to smarter students, in cases like these, is often observed to cause irreversible learning losses to the weaker students. There are many impacts of poverty on a society and its workings. To start off with the very basics, poverty leads to increase in the level of pollution. Neither do the poor people have the knowledge nor the resources required to dispose off good properly. Disposal of goods here refers to consumables as well as disposal of human waste. Poverty in third world country therefore is one of the root causes of pollution. Research has also proven that children struck by poverty suffer way more health problems, and more dangerous ones as compared to those children who grow up in a family without financial constraints. Clearly, poverty here is leading to a bad downfall in the lifestyle of poor people. Poverty also makes people go through mental and physical stress and often times when people aren’t able to cope up with it, they decide to take life threatening measures like committing a suicide or causing irreversible physical damage to themselves. Had these children not been affected by poverty, and would’ve studied instead, then they might have been able to help the falling economy of their countries and come up as great leaders capable of benefiting their economy in many ways. Research has also shown that children born in poverty stricken households are highly likely to die before they even become a year old. They tend to be associated with many diseases and owing to their tough financial situation of their families, these children are unable to get proper medical treatment. This same research has also proven that there a direct link between the level of stress faced by poverty struck families and the economic circumstances they face. Poverty is generally known to attack society not in one single way but in many different ways at the same time. The problems are so inter related and connected to each another that forming a link between many of them isn’t a difficult a job. As a very simple example, improper sanitation conditions faced by poor households become thriving grounds for the spread of old and new diseases and subsequently, situations like being unable to afford food and have access to proper drinking water further make the poor class more vulnerable to such diseases. Poverty struck communities are also ones that usually become the victims of discrimination and then end up being caught up in the vicious cycle of poverty for the rest of their lives. Such communities often face a similar set of characteristics that are passed from generation to generation include lack of provision of education, the presence of child labor to support their families, the absence of hygiene and inaccessibility to medical facilities. Yet another side effect of poverty is terrorism. Research has shown that most of the terrorists and criminals were victims of poverty. Interviewing them revealed that they came into in to terrorism and criminal related acts as their poor households lacked even the most basic facilities. They said they opted to become criminals as crime related acts often result in quick money, and that it helped them feel better about themselves, making them feel that at least they are making some contribution to their families (Asian Development Bank, 2003). Discrimination also has numerous effects on the society. Discrimination makes people lose hope. It causes people to be demotivated and subsequently such people think really low of themselves, that they’re not able to do things, whereas in reality they’re more than just capable of doing them successfully. In the longer term people who have been discriminated against come across many problems. Such problems often alter the lives of effected people in such a manner that they don‘t remain capable enough to deliver to the society efficiently. Often times the menace of discrimination leads to the development of hate feelings in these effected people. When these hate feelings persist, it makes these individuals want to isolate themselves as they begin to get mentally ill due to this stress. Discrimination can also cause a lot of problems in a work place setting. Research has shown out that discrimination leads to silence at work, to lack of innovation, to a fall in productivity levels, and to a feel of intimidation and fear amongst work colleagues. Moreover, discrimination at work makes employees take less care about their work objectives as they pay more attention to just getting their task done in any manner they can. Without any doubt poverty and discrimination are two of the most deadly diseases faced by the world economy. A solution needs to be devised to these problems before their roots spread and effect millions of other people around the globe. There are a number of ways in which the problem of poverty can be tackled. However, the economic policy that will be presented here is a mix of different kinds of policies designed to tackle the problem of poverty. To start off the system of taxation should reviewed. Poverty even though is an issue faced by most countries of the world, but it is most prominent in third world countries. The tax system of such countries is such that the rich usually get involved in tax evasion and get away without being caught. It is the money that the government raises through taxation that is used to carry out its plans of reducing poverty. The revenue generated through taxation is without any doubt the best source of reducing poverty and if discrepancies are corrected in the tax net then the poor can be provided with much better resources. It is proposed that the tax net of such countries be strengthened so that the correct amount of tax is collected. Moreover, incomes should be taxed in a progressive manner, with the rich contributing more towards tax payments as compared to their poor counterparts. Proper tax reforms need to be made to make sure that there are no discrepancies in the tax system (Combat Poverty Agency, 2003). Corrupt officers should be replaced with honest and determined officers coming from poor family backgrounds so they know how important it is to serve the poor. Yet another policy that I would propose here to overcome the cancer of poverty is to get involved in trade on a larger scale. This objective can be achieved by engaging in international trade and looking for new market segments which are still undiscovered. Involving in trade can do wonders to reduce poverty. As the demand for products and services increases, “poverty struck” countries would need to hire more work force to increase the scale of their operations. It’s pretty clear that getting involved in international trade would reduce poverty by creating jobs and providing opportunities to people who previously were jobless. Another economic policy that I propose to achieve the aim of reduction in poverty is to promote facilities like microcredit and microfinance. These two concepts are not new ones and almost everyone is aware of them. Microcredit involves lending small sums of money to poor people to start up their own “home businesses”. Microcredit promotes the culture of being self-employed as it seeks to provide people a means of setting up their own work and escape the vicious chain of poverty. Yet another, and probably one of the most successful policy measures if implemented would be to provide support new businesses. Support here refers to help simplifying the business setting up process and getting businesses to start working quickly without much “paperwork” as it consumes a lot of time. Such measures would encourage investors to set up their businesses. The more businesses are setup, the more people will be employed and a visible decline would be observed in the poverty level. As is the case with poverty, effective policy measures can also be designed to get rid of the menace of poverty. However, just devising policies is not enough unless they are actually adhered to as well. It is proposed that to overcome the menace of discrimination, proper legislation should be done. This legislation should be so detailed in nature that it lists each and every thing regarding discrimination related cases, from what is termed is discrimination all the way to mentioning how people who discriminate would be punished (Discrimination Law, 2000). Moreover, it is proposed that the government arrange discrimination related workshops for people from all walks of life. These workshops should aim to educate people about their rights, give them an understanding of discrimination, and inform them how to deal with if they face it themselves. It is also proposed that the government should carry out proper investigations in discrimination cases and punish the offenders in such a way that it sets an example for others. Such investigations should be carried out as early as possible making sure no time is wasted in going through unnecessary “paperwork”. If all these policy recommendations are implemented then it can be expected that the problems of poverty and discrimination will leave the society and the world will be a much better place for the entire human being. References Discrimination law: Bulletin. (2000). Haywards Heath: Tottel. National Bureau of Economic Research., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2000). Innovation policy and the economy. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Combat Poverty Agency. (2003). Action on poverty today. Dublin, Ireland: Combat Poverty Agency. Asian Development Bank. (2003). Poverty and social development papers. Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, Regional and Sustainable Development Dept. Consumer Unity & Trust Society. (2000). Policy watch. Jaipur: Consumer Unity & Trust Society. Read More