The driving philosophy of Aquino administration’s reform agenda; If we can rid the country of the culture of corruption, then we can alleviate poverty and collectively move forward to secure an equitably progressive Philippines, is the bedrock of the transformation of this country. The Philippines is found to be entering a promising phase in the process of lifting its citizens out of poverty. The 6-year effort of the president in stabilizing and reforming the country’s macroeconomic structure is said to be bearing fruits with an assurance of a sustainable economic growth. In 2012, our country surpasses all expectations with a GDP of 7.8%, raising the bar among the community of nations thus increasing our growth trend. But still majority of …show more content…
About 11.4 million Filipinos are poor by international standards. Most of them are situated in rural areas and war-afflicted zones. They include landless workers, fishers, small-scale farmers and indigenous people. The effect of poverty on provinces drives people to migrate to places where their labor will command a higher return. A so-called rural exodus or migration of agricultural labor is common nowadays due to the ideology that urban sectors provide an array of job opportunities, easy access to health care and social services that the provinces cannot offer. In the film ‘Metro Manila,’ Oscar represents the whole population of local farmers who are being oppressed and deceived. Problems like high cost of inputs, low price of palay, lack of capital, labor problem, lack of postharvest facilities, pest and diseases and irrigation system are depicted perfectly in the film. Also, it shows how an average Filipino farmer lives in extreme poverty and the fact that a trip to Manila is tempting in seeking a better …show more content…
What’s good for the economy doesn’t always mean good for the people. GDP growth is not a good indicator of improving quality of life because it does not measure the big picture. We should be focused on building a good society, one where individuals are affluent, educated, highly skilled, healthy, and well fed, and do not face discrimination and political repression, and are not at the mercy of natural or man-made disasters. Unfortunately, at this point of time we are still in a state of total impoverishment. In reality, poverty has ‘many faces’ with no simple solution. It doesn’t look like a starving child with flies on his face. And more importantly, it is not just about dirt, rags and helplessness. It is multi-faceted. It is also about hunger, lack of shelter, being sick and unable to see a doctor, and not knowing how to advance one’s future, among other concerns. The faces of poverty represent people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and diverse cultures. And it is only a matter of time before everyone turned to acts of self-desperation to escape the gripping hands of
In “It is Expensive to Be Poor”, Barbara Ehrenreich claims that it is time for us to take a stand against poverty and help the people suffering. The author notes that the war on poverty was started by president Lyndon B. Johnson about five decades ago. The government started giving money to support groups. (para. 1-2).
Paint a picture of poverty. What do you see and where does it take place? Is it in a city like New York? Maybe it takes place at the dried, barren lands in the continent of Africa. Now, imagine it a hundred times worse, with no proper housing, limited water and sewage system, and lacking food and other general necessities.
#2 David K. Shipler also goes on how those attempting to escape poverty also face psychological problems such as hopelessness, helplessness, depression, trauma, and lack of motivation to even attempt to fix their own lives. Shipler includes one Los Angeles man’s remark after being asked to define poverty in his book that states that poverty is: Not hopelessness-helplessness. Why should I get up? Nobody’s ever gonna ever hire me because look at the way I’m dressed, and look at the fact that I never finished high school, look at the fact that I’m black, I’m brown, I’m yellow, or I grew up in
One thing that Edin and Shaefer makes abundantly clear is that poverty has no face. Victims of a failing economic system come from different backgrounds and all have different stories. The 1.2 million families below the poverty line are black, white, Hispanic and Asian. Although there are different types of families living on $2.00 a day, many of the families have commonalities. For instance, I believe that Madonna, Jennifer and Rae had the most in common.
Nearly half a century ago, Lyndon Johnson began campaigning the War on Poverty with a vision for a sustained and prosperous economy. Back then, poverty in America was associated with graphic images of substandard wooden shacks and impoverished city alleys. Today, the face of poverty has taken a new shape. In societies imagination, poverty takes the form of hopeless Americans and single mothers frantically treading on a rolling barrel that is headed towards the rivers end. For the enormous amount of women living in this situation, the American dream is dead.
The face of poverty is the person standing next to you in line at the gas station, the well-dressed business woman at the grocery store, and the single mom at the mall. In order to bring in more donations and understanding to nonprofit
Millions of people all over the world suffer from poverty. Americans usually think of third world countries when thinking of poverty, often one will not realize that it is a problem right here at home. Everyone will agree that poverty is a problem, but how exactly does poverty affect people? Most people will think of an old beggar on the side of the road with a sign and a tin can in their hand when they think of poor people. But the age group that is most affected by poverty in our nation is our children.
Poverty is “...the most savage of all human afflictions” (1). It “...[spreads] like a cancer” through generations that become ever more powerless to “...mobilize their efforts against it” (1). Nowhere is this more clear than in Gordon Parks’ essay, “Flavio’s Home”. Parks vividly retells the story of a young boy, Flavio de Silva, and his family as they struggle to survive on grossly less than the bare minimum in the slums of Rio.
The article is not current but, it can be used as a comparison between poverty studies of today to that of five years prior. VI. It expands on the blame the poor and the blame society view in the book. The Article does the by bringing up the preconceived notions that most individuals would have about poverty, then shows research material with statistics to show evidence of his claim. a. I learned that the only way true way actually stop poverty is for individuals to start making an active role in its prevention and not just pushing the blame to someone else.
Today, as we find ourselves in the twenty first century, our problem with poverty still exists and appears to be getting worse. Cities are continuing to grow to max capacities, hunger rings clear throughout the world, natural resources are depleted everyday due to over use, causing a degradation of our environment and billions of individuals do not claim Yahweh as their God. These are the occurrences on this planet on an everyday day cycle. There appears to be more focus on selfishness and the everyday rather than living in community with others. Plain and simple, poverty is serious and we must get to the root of it.
Poverty is affecting billions of people around our world and the number is growing with each day. Many people think they can avoid the effects of poverty, but it is something that affects all of our daily lives. Many people see poverty as a person who lacks money, although this is true poverty is caused by many more things than being without money. Just the fact that one in two children live in poverty can help people see clearly the impact it has on our world. Poverty truly does influence the type of care and treatment a person will receive when they need it.
The solutions therefore interpreted as a need for greater economic growth, with a focus on building human capacity/capital. Conceptualization of poverty has broadened to include non-economic components. Thus, poverty is increasingly being recognized as multi-dimensional, distinguishing the numerous aspects of people’s lives affected by poverty, including economic and non-economic dimensions, and recognizing that poverty occurs within and is affected by the political, economic, social and cultural context (Sen,
Poverty and deprivation of many kinds is a very serious problem, not only in the United States, but also around the world. In a study in 2014, forty-seven million people living in the U.S. were considered to be in poverty; that is fifteen percent of its population . Poverty and deprivation is a serious topic that everyone should be aware of; if you are not aware of a problem,how are you going to fix it? You can find examples of this topic in almost every where; From books and movies to your everyday life. The most common known definition of poverty is economic poverty, but there is also social, emotional, and spiritual poverty and deprivation.
Smith (2010) argues that while ‘poverty’ and ‘economic inequality’ are closely related terms, they refer to ‘distinct and different concepts’. The scope of this review precludes detailed definitions of poverty (e.g. as provided elsewhere, Goulden and D’Arcy, 2014), or debates about how poverty might best be measured. Instead, it offers a brief description of how these two concepts might be defined and how they differ. Poverty is a term that concentrates on those who have the least money or other resources or, as Ridge and Wright (2008) argue, it is ‘a situation of extreme disadvantage experienced at the bottom of the social and economic scale’. Yet poverty is more than being at the bottom of the income scale; it describes individuals and families who have inadequate resources to secure what is deemed a reasonable, or expected, standard of living within a given country.
Despite the great wealth the United States possesses, it has for long struggled with poverty which is said to be inherited from one generation to another. The culture of poverty hinders those affected from economic betterment however much assistance they obtain from social programs put in place. The term Culture of poverty is believed to have been coined by Oscar Lewis, who suggested that children who grow up in poverty-stricken families are highly likely to adopt the norms and practices that encourage poverty. Thus, these children, he believed, would replicate the adapted values in their lives which would in turn generate a cycle of intergenerational poverty in the long run (Bell et al, 2013). Thus the culture of poverty is a topic which creates heated debates in both the public and political arenas.